chromedome

For me, the stars align that way about once every three or four years. It works, though, because that's as often as I get a hankering for corn. I'll eat half an ear, enjoy it greatly, and not feel the need again for some time. I don't shun it like Liuzhou, mind you, and I'm still working my way through the quantity of home-grown my parents grew and froze before my Dad passed away last year, but fresh on the cob isn't especially a weakness of mine.

At one point my late wife and I had accumulated over 2 dozen local, artisanal honeys and the differences between them were remarkable. Some are grassy, some are floral, some have distinct citrusy notes, some skew to caramel while others are more butterscotch, some are very light on the palate and others are heavy. Our favorite was from a fellow vendor who only produced enough for her own family, with a few much-treasured jars going to a handful of friends. It had a remarkably long, lingering aftertaste, like a red wine with hints of dark berries in it. I still have about 1/4 cup left from the last jar we were given before my wife passed away. I've been rationing it carefully...I'm with someone else now, and very happy with my life, but in a way that's difficult to articulate this honey remains a living connection between us. Back in our farmer's market days, we became legends among our fellow vendors for selling a tasting flight of honeys. Three small sample cups of honey, each containing about 1/2 tablespoon, packaged up with tasting notes, stir-sticks to scoop the honey, and a wedge of fresh-baked corn bread to cleanse the palate between tastes (or to eat with the honey, as you prefer). We charged $5 for that, and the other vendors were incredulous every time we sold out.

Relative indeed. At 25C I'm looking for shade, and thankful when there's a cool breeze from the bay.

I've seen several of them at similar venues over the past few years, since the colony collapse scare increased interest in beekeeping.

I don't know which is more environmentally friendly at the macro level. Milk carton-style boxboard is recyclable in NS for sure, I don't know about here in NB. As for determining how much you have left...I just heft mine. The weight tells you part of the story, and you can certainly judge with your fingers where the level of molasses sits. It's certainly no harder than looking at a glass jar. Personally, if both were available in stores here, I'd take the carton every time. I've never had one of those break when I catch it with my elbow. I've noticed just within the past month or two that Crosby's has finally gotten with the times and begun selling molasses in a plastic squeeze bottle as well. Excellent for table use.

In the days before Google, a guy with a good map of Newfoundland could make a few bucks off fools who were willing to bet there was no such place. Just for the record, there's also a South Dildo.

Just as a followup, I nipped in again this evening and filled my growler with their Mango IPA. As a rule I'm not big on fruit-flavored beers, but I thought this might be an interesting combination of flavors (especially on a hot July evening). I quite like it...it's far less fruit-forward than most fruit beers I've had, with the hops front and center and the mango playing purely a supporting role. You could almost mistake the mango for in intriguing note coming from the hops themselves. I don't know what kind of hops they used in the brew (they don't specify) but I'd certainly be keen to try a similar beer made with more "artisanal" hops.

Geez, got distracted and never came back to this. My bad. The first one I tried was the October Ale. It was unseasonal but they brewed that one first because it's the one great-great granny started with, back in the day. I reasoned that they'd probably retire that one fairly quickly until autumn (I was right, as it happens). It was a nice brown ale, not overly hoppy or complex but with a nice bit of caramel sweetness, some dry fruit notes and a whiff of smoke. The IPA is pleasantly refreshing, nicely hopped (ie, not a hop monster but not understated either) with bright, citrusy notes. I've just finished a growler of the bock, which is a pleasant but undistinguished example of the style. I also tasted an oatmeal stout and a dunkel that first night, both of which were smokier than I'd expected. Other than that I remember little of them, because I'd tasted five in total within a short timeframe. They've since added a dark lager and a mango IPA, which I haven't tasted. Overall, I'm pleased with what I've had. Are there better craft brews around? Absolutely. Are they perfectly acceptable and enjoyable in their own right? You bet. If anyone happens to be in this vicinity over the summer, you can book a tour of the brewery what concludes with flights in the taproom. A flight of four 7-ounce glasses is only $3, which is absurdly low in this neck of the woods. Here's the outside: A "flight plus one," so I could taste all the small-batch brews: The order board: Vintage bottles and other memorabilia on display shelves in the tap room: The business end of things: ...and a nice final touch.

Some of those blues can be pretty vocal.

It's not at all uncommon in this neck of the woods, though I've never understood the reasoning. Don't be surprised, either, if you're offered some with olives in it. If you're driving up from Cape Breton you'll pass the Jost winery in Malagash, which turns out some cheap plonk but also some pretty fair German-style whites. Most NS wineries have a wine called "Tidal Bay," using the signature local grape varietals in varying but legally defined combinations, and Jost's is quite drinkable. They're created by the respective winemakers specifically to be served with the local seafood, an idea that originated with the provincial government and its Taste of Nova Scotia program. You'll also see a number of craft breweries (NS has more per capita than any other province) though I'm not personally familiar with those. If you'll be crossing the Confederation Bridge on your way to or from PEI, take a detour to the small town of Baie Verte NB and visit the Winegarden Estate winery and distillery. The wines there aren't at the same level as wineries in NS (or at least they weren't as of a few years ago) but they distill a vast selection of schnapps and eau-de-vies, which are excellent. During the season I believe they serve German-style food there as well.

When natural pollinators aren't getting it done, you can hand-pollinate with a small paintbrush. It's a time-consuming PITA (best done in the morning, before it gets too hot out) but it'll crank up your zucchini production. ...and we all know how dear to your heart those morning zuc's are.

It's fun trolling fans. I've often played dumb when someone mentions Led Zepplin, then brightened as if hearing an inaudible penny drop and exclaimed, "Oh wait, they do the Popeye song, right?" This usually gets a blank look and a "Popeye song? What Popeye song?" To which I respond, in my best Popeye voice, "Olive my love/Olive my love..."

I'm getting dragged out to the festivities uptown, despite the sweltering heat and humidity. Food prep today will be minimal, in consequence (heat and I do not co-exist well). I suspect dinner will, if anything, be a beer.

I see it mostly as understanding the water flow and trying to arrange the dishes so it's not obstructed. My decades-old Kenmore portable cleans everything beautifully with standard Finish tabs, with the sole exception of mugs. The tea stains don't come off, so I wash 'em manually once a week or so.

On a related note: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/06/amazon-buying-online-pharmacy-with-nationwide-reach-drug-store-stocks-dive/

I totally agree with you on lobster. When we have one (ie, whenever my GF has the urge) I'll eat a claw, and she has the rest. Our granddaughter loves gnawing the meat out of the little legs, so those usually go her way. I moved back East around the time lobster was at historic lows, a decade or so ago, and still have trouble with the notion of splurging more than $5/lb for it.

I've been incommunicado for most of the week, as I was down in NS helping my daughter move (an abrupt "reno-viction") but I thought about you when I saw the snow on Newfoundland. When my family moved there in 1978, we left NS on the last day of May at 38C and absolutely sweltering. We arrived at our new home in Sop's Arm (about an hour from Deer Lake) in a white-out blizzard on June 1st.

Seen on the internet: "Carbs are the brain's primary fuel. Atkins and keto go a long way to explaining the world around us, right now."

They're mostly solitary, but during mating season a bull will assemble a small harem so it's not entirely uncommon to see a handful of cows in relatively close proximity. You'll also see them congregate together loosely in areas where food is plentiful (not hanging out together, as such...more like humans passing each other at the supermarket).

This would have been just as much at home in "Why we fell for clean eating," but what the heck... https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/lifestyle/hot-dog-water-seller-in-vancouver-gets-laughs-to-prove-point-1.3984356&sa=D&source=hangouts&ust=1530041156967000&usg=AFQjCNG3zko39bmMLEbzWfTwb6SbGt18xg

Tourism information center.

I looked up their main site. Click through from "The Science Behind the Magic" (a phrase that made me think of Young Frankenstein).

The "Long Pork Primer?" "Better Humans and Gardens Cookbook"?

According to the lab analysis shown on their site, the finished compost is relatively high in sodium - not surprisingly, given that it'll process finished foods seasoned for the table - so you'll have to be wary of using too much in any one place (the lab recommends an 18-20:1 ratio of soil to compost, to mitigate the sodium levels). As for the cost-benefit equation, that's entirely up to you. From what I've seen on their site the only consumable is filters, which will cost you $50/year in Canada (presumably less in the US). I don't compost personally at the moment, because my garden is a half-hour drive from home and we have municipal green-bin composting. My little bucket collector works fine for me, because the "smell factor" determines how long it stays on my counter...when the GF has a yen for lobster, for example, the shells go out PDQ. It works for me, but of course everyone's situation is different. If you're fine with the price tag, it appears that the machine does what it says it will.

Today I finally finished the (main) digging at my main garden, at my GF's parent's place. I'll probably still put in a few smaller beds for this and that, but at least the grunt work is done. The soil there is good, but remarkable for its, uh..."mineral content." I took 7 wheelbarrows of stones out of a 12' x 4' stretch, ranging from egg-sized to microwave-sized. The latter had to be dragged out with a small tractor, as I couldn't budge it with my steel pry bar. Lots of stuff in...chard, kale, red and gold beets, lettuce mix, okra, peas, beans, potatoes, onions, turnips, radishes, Brussels sprouts, red and green cabbages, carrots, some squash (no zucchini, my sweetie is allergic) and doubtless a few other things that elude my recollection at the moment. The garlic my father'd been hand-selecting for size is almost ready to harvest. Last year, I the majority of the cloves fell in the 20-30 gram range (up to an ounce or so) which is freakin' HUGE...I sometimes got a scant quarter-cup of minced garlic from one clove.