Category Archives: Thursday

Everything Old is New Again

On March 26, 2020, the United States had a total of 68,000 diagnosis of Covid-19 and about 1001 people had died across the nation. On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 504 Americans died from the corona virus. That was the highest number of Americans to die in a single day from this virus, well, until the next day when 1,040 Americans died of the virus in a single day. Today, April 2, 2020, there are 245,160 people just in the United States diagnosed with the virus and nearly 6,000 have died. This afternoon, the governor of the state of Washington announced that the shelter in place, the stay-at-home, the quarantine, will continue until May 4th, nearly 2 full months. What impact this will have on the spread is unknown since there are still way too many states (more than one) think this is a made-up crisis and are still ignoring it.

I am sitting at home searching the internet for patterns for homemade protective face masks while all the odd bobs of cotton fabric I have collected over the years swish around in the washing machine. When the super hot water wash cycle is over, I will fry everything in the dryer. Because, you know, before you make your mask, you need to make sure your 100% cotton fabric is as shrunk as it can be. Yup, its the 21st century and I am making my own medical equipment which might have garnered an approving nod from Florence Nightingale or perhaps Clara Barton as long as they didn’t know it was the 21st century and still medical equipment was in short supply and people were dying for no particularly good reason. And just as I would have then, I am going to be hand stitching these buggers because I never did figure out how to work Rose’s sewing machine or Nana’s sewing machine and I am thinking this is NOT the time to start.

From the declaration of pandemic (versus “bad cold” or “flu” which is the descriptor clung to by the US government for nearly 6 wasted weeks) homemade face masks have been a controversial subject. Personally I thought about making one for me because I figured it would at least keep my sneezes to myself and I’ve been sneezing plenty thanks to spring allergies. But I waffled and didn’t do anything for a couple of weeks. Many observed that homemade masks made of a piece of cotton can’t stop a virus. And others were saying homemade masks would create a false sense of security and people would stop “physical distancing.”  “Social distancing” is now being referred to as “physical distancing” because “social distancing was having a negative impact on moral.  By saying “physical distancing” instead, we can remind ourselves to stay close to our friends and neighbors who are still out there waiting to be social over things like FaceTime or Zoom.

Then researchers and scientists figured out that huge numbers of people have zero symptoms for DAYS and even WEEKS before they start with a sore throat or headache or cough and that during that entire time, these typhoid Marys (well not exactly since she never ever got typhoid, she just shared) cough and sneeze bazillions of virus bits all over everything every day–a single sneeze being able to propel its load of virus as much as 20 feet away which is most unhelpful if you are dutifully only 6 feet (or one prone Francis which is our family unit of measure) away. The ability to propel bazillions of bits of virus bits all over everything is significantly reduced to only millions if one is wearing a homemade face mask when one sneezes. In a raging pandemic a drop from bazillions to mere millions is quite significant so now the World Health Organization and the CDC and the White House are all rethinking everything and a directive to wear face masks All The Time But Not The Ones Used In Hospitals because there is a dire shortage of real medical equipment to protect all the medical people.

East Asia including China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc, etc, etc is surely feeling smug since wearlng a mask with a cold or any manner of sneeze is part of the culture and seen as being a good citizen and which until now has been mocked by know it all westerners as completely ineffective and silly.

And so here I am with a stack of fabric and a collection of patterns for making face masks first for me and then for the rest of the family. Everyone needs at least two. I foresee a lot of hand stitching and not much knitting the next few days.

Remember to make the inside different from the outside

 

 

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Filed under Pandemic, Thursday

commitment

It’s me again. Posting twice in the same month—that’s a damned fine start if you ask me.

Tomorrow is my one year anniversary of breaking my first, and hopefully last, bone.  I broke my left ankle in two places by stepping on ice I thought was snow. Because  my hands were full, I couldn’t catch my balance and crash down went I.

Continue reading

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Filed under Coffee Thoughts, Thursday

Me Again

 

Cooking: the Early Years

I’m not going to fill in all the gaps since my last post. I ought to but I won’t, at least not now. I may in the future fold in things that will explain what’s happened since going to London or moving but not today.

Today I can formally proclaim I have fucking breast cancer AGAIN. It’s a new primary (that’s good) and I can manage with another lumpectomy versus a mastectomy (also good) but it’s still twice in 10 years and that sucks.

Surgery is March 3. Radiation to follow.

Over the last year, I have pondered and thought and come to a resolution which this diagnosis has only served to solidify. This year, I am retiring. This is my last lunch break at Starbucks on a February 6 because after November, I will be retired.

Who knows, I may actually have time to make that jam.

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Filed under Coffee Thoughts, Thursday

This Year

This year there will be no one dying of cancer or just dead of cancer or going through treatment for cancer.
There will be no one having surgery or in the hospital.
There will be no work crisis.
There will be no flu.

There will be hand made gifts finished before the holiday.
There will be a holiday party to make up for years of missed parties and half-assed parties.
There will be home cured gravlax and ham.
There will be fresh baked buns on Christmas morning.
There will be goose and pudding.
There will be special crackers for each person with unique treats and maybe even a poem.
There will be cookies and homemade candy.
There will be boxes of treats and presents sent out.
There will be family time and reading and playing board games and watching family favorites on television.
There will be Boxing Day.

There will be Christmas.

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Coronation Pasta

The original Coronation Chicken was created in celebration of the Coronation of Elizabeth II.  Basically its a chicken salad with poached and shredded chicken, curry powder to taste, a mayo dressing and a bit of mango chutney.  From that basic theme, the recipes run wild with variations—yogurt to replace mayo, celery, raisins, chopped nuts, apples, onion (cooked or raw), pomegranite seeds–the choices seem endless but they are all yummy.  The finished product can be served in tart shells or baked potatos or stuffed in a sandwich.

I made Coronation Chicken for lunches on Tuesday.  I halved the mayo and made up the difference with whole milk yogurt.

Wednesday night was pasta night but everyone ate all the dinner leaving nothing for lunch leftovers.  After poking through the freezer, the fridge and the cupboards I found the remains of a pound of ground lamb; way more frozen apricot halves from summer than I ever remembered; the scant remains of a loaf of bread; a single pound of dry pasta and half an onion.

I came up with Coronation Pasta for lunch.  And you know, it was pretty yummy too.

Coronation Pasta

1 -2 Tablespoons coconut oil

1 T curry powder (or to taste)

1 cup minced onion

1/2 lb ground lamb

12 frozen apricot halves (ah yes, the tricky part)  ( in lieu of frozen apricots, theres always 2 T of mango chutney)

1/2 t ground pepper

1/4 t cayenne pepper

1 lb pasta–shell shapes work well with this dish because the raisins and the meat bits hide in the pasta.

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped almonds

Put on a large pot of water to boil.  When it reaches boiling point, add salt.

While you wait for your water, chop onion to taste.  Heat coconut oil in frying pan, add curry powder, stir a bit and add the onion.  After onion has softened a bit, add the ground lamb, being careful to break-up the chunks.  Add 1/2 cup water and the apricot halves.  As they thaw, the apricots will melt into the ground lamb.

Add remainder of the seasonings, cover and turn heat under lamb to very low.

Cook pasta.  Before pasta reaches al dente, add raisins to the pasta water to soften.  When pasta is al dente–before you drain it–add 2 ladles or 3/4 cup of the pasta water to the lamb mix.  If you are using chutney instead of the apricots, stir the chutney into the lamb mix now.

Combine cooked lamb with drained pasta and raisins.  Add chopped almonds and stir.

Serve warm or cold or room temperature.

 

 

 

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