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Food in the time of a pandemic


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Actually got an order for today - placed at 3 a.m. for 7pm - we shall see. Instacart local. No tp but the hoarders arrive May 3 and will bring. May the saints preserve us. 

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Have gone one week + 2 days without shopping since I gave my husband a more "focused" shopping list (based on actual meal planning vs random). No wastage of produce, although the fresh pineapple that I cut up and froze for less than a week didn't really defrost as well as I had hoped. I really would like to stretch to full 2 weeks, but I know he's getting nervous. He actually called his buddy who went shopping at Wegmans this morning and asked how the stock levels were (not as good, was the report).

"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

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37 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@DiggingDogFarm  

 

consider moving your patronage to Penzey's

 

https://www.penzeys.com

 

they have shipping specials from time to time 

 

smaller minimums   and occational  small  amounts of different 

 

mixtures  significantly discounted.

 

Thanks, but I have a problem with the owner's condescending attitude — I won't shop there.

I"m well stocked with herbs and spices, I just happened to notice the crazy organic dill weed price as well as others!

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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17 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

Jicama, perhaps?

Yes! Jicama.  I used to grow them. They like the desert as long as they get minimal water. Then the huge Mexican supermarket opened and their prices were so cheap, it didn't pay to waste my time growing them.  Shredded they are great added to coleslaw. Also shredded nice when pickled with shredded ginger.  Cut into batons they work great in stir-frys.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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3 minutes ago, lindag said:

 

as in his political views?

 

His general attitude.

I've dealt with him personally.

I don't need another "mommy", I already have a Mommy!

I'll stop short of calling him crazy.

Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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4 minutes ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

His general attitude.

I've dealt with him personally.

I don't need another "mommy", I already have a Mommy!

I'll stop short of calling him crazy.

 

I agree he seems to be pretty out-there.

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What I don't grow in terms of herbs and spices, I purchase at my local health food store.

She has organic herbs and spices in bulk, I can buy as much or as little as i want — to keep it fresh.

It's a very small shop, I want to keep her in business!!!

ETA: The shop is within easy walking distance — about 1,000 feet away.

Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)
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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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23 hours ago, SLB said:

 

@liamsaunt, those Maine marfax beans are delicious.  I actually have some soaking now -- I order them from Baer's Best, a delightful Maine farmer who grows several New England heirlooms beans.   It was funny to come across your picture!  

 

Thanks for the information.  I already traded them to my Mom for some other stuff, but I will keep in mind for future shipments.  I am sorry for your losses.

 

Here is this week's share.  As you can see, I got TWO kinds of beans this week!  They are black beans and bumblebee beans.  I can work with those.  This week's share contains the last of the overwintered carrots, plus many freshly dug parsnips.  I see parsnip puree in my future.  They also gave me 16 potatoes and another huge sweet potato!  I still have eight potatoes and two sweet potatoes left from last week's box!  Luckily, I texted my brother and he really wants the potatoes for his house with my parents.  He is taking them all in exchange for, well, I am not sure what yet.  He'll come up with something that I want.  Other stuff included pea shoots, bread, strawberry jam, and jerusalem artichokes.  

 

share.jpg

 

My Whole Foods order got shopped a day early and arrived last night around 8PM.  They made meat substitutions without checking with me, which was a little odd.  Ground chicken breast was swapped in for ground dark turkey meat, and chicken tenders were swapped in for chicken breast.  Oh well, they tried and I will use everything I am sure.  No milk, toilet paper, paper towels, mozzarella cheese, or popcorn.  I got everything else I asked for including eggs, bacon, corn tortillas, and a flank steak for tacos on Sunday.

 

My Wegmans order is supposed to arrive today between 11-1, but I am guessing it will arrive much later than that.  My Mom had an order that was supposed to come yesterday between 9-11AM, and it arrived at 5:30 PM.  

Edited by liamsaunt (log)
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Got a box from UPS and inside was yeast!  My mom sent it to me :) .  Yeast crisis averted.  Still can't find a hint of it in stores around here.  Well, online anyway.  I haven't been inside a store for a bit.

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Actually got an order for today - placed at 3 a.m. for 7pm - we shall see. Instacart local. No tp but the hoarders arrive May 3 and will bring. May the saints preserve us. I just realized my power outage (wildfire & covid19 related) starts 9 to 5 today and my phone is sketchy. We shall see.

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20 hours ago, weinoo said:

This came in a box of vegetables

 

I participated in a Burns Supper earlier this year. Pressure-cooked the rutabaga (neeps). Just before serving I added a lump of butter. Once I added s+p plus nutmeg, once just black pepper (I had to do a test run before the dinner).

 

Just divine.

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I haven't shopped (online) there since the pandemic, but I've had good experiences with Frontier brand stuff. I used to make chili a lot and got my chili powder there. You can also buy their stuff on Amazon. I just went on the Frontier website and it looks like they have things in stock.

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14 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

Yes, we do that in Scotland, too. Swedes or turnips or neeps. In London, always Swedes, as I remember.

In China, we call them unavailable!

 

 

so you don't distinguish turnips from rutabagas? I don't like turnips but Swedes are nice

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It's almost never bad to feed someone.

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Speaking of root vegetables, my Aldi didn't have any except carrots. So I roasted up carrots, onion, and zucchini for the stew I was making with leftover slow-roasted lamb shoulder. Added mushrooms and bullhorn peppers. Turned out nice.

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It's almost never bad to feed someone.

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I’ve been planting the root ends of green onions/scallions and onions because I’m going victory garden on this in my small yard.  Three of the green onions are pushing up new growth. I’m overly excited about this.  

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11 minutes ago, Jacksoup said:

I’ve been planting the root ends of green onions/scallions and onions because I’m going victory garden on this in my small yard.  Three of the green onions are pushing up new growth. I’m overly excited about this.  

 

great idea! I have a lot of beds that I could try this with, although I think they are mainly earwig breeding grounds. I was unsuccessful with onions last spring but a couple have started to come up with our recent rain.

Be sure to show us how it is coming along in the gardening thread.

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It's almost never bad to feed someone.

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3 hours ago, haresfur said:

 

so you don't distinguish turnips from rutabagas? I don't like turnips but Swedes are nice

 

 

In Scotland, no. The little whitish turnips are called little whitish turnips, but are not common. Neeps are very, very common.

 

The wikipedia article on rutabaga is unusually good on the etymology of the various names.

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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It was much the same for me, growing up in Nova Scotia (which is literally, after all, "New Scotland"). "Turnips" were always rutabagas, and the only reason I ever saw the white turnips was because my father planted them in our garden occasionally.

 

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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5 hours ago, weinoo said:

1821789685_GeechieDeliveryIMG_0683(1).jpeg.aec9fde0d0495321b8d639f91e7c394c.jpeg

 

A small delivery of "essentials" for the pantry arrived yesterday.

For my last order from Geechie Boy I got the Carolina Gold rice for the first time. I thought it was delicious. Love to know how you like the Charleston Gold. Is Charleston rice always the aromatic one? Btw, last Friday I watched Vivian Howard's latest series and she dropped in on Geechie Boy himself on Edisto Island. That was a two minute thrill, which isn't nothing these days.

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19 hours ago, Shelby said:

Got a box from UPS and inside was yeast!  My mom sent it to me :) .  Yeast crisis averted.  Still can't find a hint of it in stores around here.  Well, online anyway.  I haven't been inside a store for a bit.

 

Yesterday I shipped out 12# of yeast to various friends across the country; the # boxes were $3.63 from the distributor.  It cost more to ship than to buy 😄  I have 6 left from the case.  It was the first time I'd been anywhere except the bake shop, home or restaurant depot.  Utter madness; one man kept going back and forth to the counter (and I would move each time he did, 6 feet away means come prepared for heaven's sake), no mask, no gloves, nothing.  I had to repackage two of the shipments (I had been reusing the Rancho Gordo boxes, my labels were previously filled out and I brought shipping tape) and when I got back in line, the woman ahead of me was holding a mask in her hands.  No gloves. 🤦‍♀️  I myself had a mask and gloves on (I keep a box in the car), and for good measure, a clorox wipe to use on the keypad. 

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Husband mumbled something about putting a box from a chocolate place out in the garage (quarantine) yesterday. Didn't really listen because I figured he mis-read the label. Went out this morning and sure enough, a box from a chocolatier! His son and girlfriend sent us a nice little 9-piece sampler from a local chocolate shop where they live. I ate one for breakfast to ensure no damage had occurred in shipment😉

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"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

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4 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

Husband mumbled something about putting a box from a chocolate place out in the garage (quarantine) yesterday. Didn't really listen because I figured he mis-read the label. Went out this morning and sure enough, a box from a chocolatier! His son and girlfriend sent us a nice little 9-piece sampler from a local chocolate shop where they live. I ate one for breakfast to ensure no damage had occurred in shipment😉

 

 

Because one was undamaged doesn't mean they all are. I'd test them all!

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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