Camping, Princess Style

[chromedome]

In Nova Scotia, one artisan raw-milk cheese producer has a blue called "Dragon's Breath" in honor of its funk. It's very good.

[ElsieD]

13 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

I wish I had regular access to it, although it might be hard on the waistline AND the bank account. I bought a chunk of their smoked cheddar and the extra-sharp cheddar you see in the photo above, I think at my last Trader Joe's visit. I think I liked the smoked cheddar better, but they were both great.

 

I haven't seen the smoked cheddar and have only had the extra sharp.  I buy it whenever our local shop has it.  It is not a regular item and when I am able to buy it, it is a real treat.

[Darienne]

9 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

I haven't seen the smoked cheddar and have only had the extra sharp.  I buy it whenever our local shop has it.  It is not a regular item and when I am able to buy it, it is a real treat.

Costco carries smoked cheddar.  It's Ed's favorite.  I don't really like it all that much.

[ElsieD]

11 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Costco carries smoked cheddar.  It's Ed's favorite.  I don't really like it all that much.

 

Old Croc smoked cheddar?

[Darienne]

5 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

Old Croc smoked cheddar?

Sorry.  I was not following closely enough. Nope. 

[ElsieD]

4 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Sorry.  I was not following closely enough. Nope. 

 

That's okay.  Did you mean Balderson's or is there another one at Costco that I haven't seen?

[Darienne]

14 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

That's okay.  Did you mean Balderson's or is there another one at Costco that I haven't seen?

Sorry.  The wrapper is missing and Ed isn't here.  I would guess that it's Balderson.   Personally, my current favorite is Colliers.  Besides our regular 5-year old Balderson.

[Smithy]

I find that some smoked cheeses are overwhelmingly smoky. I thought this Croc Smoked Cheddar had just a nice light touch of smoke, not overwhelming.

 

Although we're still in the Sonoran Desert, we're at a higher elevation and the vegetation has changed. In addition, the freeway that passes (all too closely) by this campground has been rebuilt and moved, and the frontage road seeded with the classic Arizona highway blend. When we walk outside the campground, we're able to admire some of these beauties. 

 

 

Why they planted wheat by the roadside is a mystery, but it gives me a special chance to appreciate its symmetrical beauty.

 

 

(Someone in an earlier lifetime snookered my darling into thinking that cereal grains were so named because the seeds were all in a series. It helps to know how to spell, doesn't it? )

 

Another local food source, I suppose, could be the chia that grows abundantly. I think it looks like some crazy Mid-Century Modern sculpture.

 

 

Last night's dinner was our "Traditional Bedouin Style Tuna-Noodle Hot Dish".

 

 

 

We now have quite a few prepackaged meals. This is comfort food at its finest for us, especially with liberal quantities of freshly-ground cumin. Especially because I didn't have to grind it by hand.

 

 

We aren't crazy about living in relatively crowded conditions, but it's lovely to have electricity again.

[heidih]

Is that wheat or rye? Looks like what we had in our fields when we had horses who "bloat fed" on the greenery - we called it rye but no experts here

[Smithy]

54 minutes ago, heidih said:

Is that wheat or rye? Looks like what we had in our fields when we had horses who "bloat fed" on the greenery - we called it rye but no experts here

 

That's a good question, and maybe it is rye. I've been looking around at pictures of wheat vs. rye, and gotten thoroughly confused, to the point that barley has also entered the arena of possibilities.

 

Maybe I'll stumble over an answer, or someone else can weigh in. Since you're a master gardener I would trust your judgment over mine.

[Darienne]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

 

That's a good question, and maybe it is rye. I've been looking around at pictures of wheat vs. rye, and gotten thoroughly confused, to the point that barley has also entered the arena of possibilities.

 

Maybe I'll stumble over an answer, or someone else can weigh in. Since you're a master gardener I would trust your judgment over mine.

I know little or nothing about growing things...but the farmer who uses our fields, Other Ed we call him, grows oats some years and they look exactly like that.

 

[heidih]

37 minutes ago, Darienne said:

I know little or nothing about growing things...but the farmer who uses our fields, Other Ed we call him, grows oats some years and they look exactly like that.

 

 

Yes! Oats - it has been so long I forgot. The dang things stick in your socks. Thank you!

[Smithy]

2 hours ago, Darienne said:

I know little or nothing about growing things...but the farmer who uses our fields, Other Ed we call him, grows oats some years and they look exactly like that.

 

 

Sorry, there may be a Canadian vs. Yank language split here, like what Europeans and Africans call "corn" vs. what we Yanks do. What I know as oats look very different, both the wild and cultivated varieties. Tomorrow I'll add a picture of the wild oats growing around here. In the meantime, here's a good photo of the cultivated versions of wheat, rye, barley and oats. (It's copyrighted, else I'd show it instead of linking it.) I'm leaning toward the mystery grass being either rye or barley rather than wheat. I can try calling the Arizona Highway Department tomorrow to learn their standard roadside seeding mix. Unfortunately, given the Coronavirus lockdown situation, I doubt I'll get anyone on the phone.

 

Tonight's dinner plans are grilled steaks and a tomato salad. I've made the salad, and am kicking back with a Kilt Lifter beer. My darling is on HIS computer, catching up on the news. That may be enough to put us off our feed!

 

Edited to add: for those who want to really get into the weeds* here's a more detailed discussion of the differences. It's a PDF download, relatively small, apparently harmless, from the USDA.

 

*I'd apologize for the pun, but it would be insincere.

Edited March 26, 2020 by Smithy
Added extra comment and link (log)

[Darienne]

That's incredible.  Other Ed's crop looked like a cross between the barley and the wheat...it definitely had all that beard.  I'll phone him to ask.  His 'oats' did not look like your photos of oats.  And yet to think that this man, a long time farmer, would not know what he was sowing is out of the question,  which leaves me confused.  Looked through my photos of the farm exterior and couldn't find a photo of the 'oats'.  

[Smithy]

That's why I wonder whether there's a regional linguistic difference in the grain names. I cited corn as an example because my best friend, who spent much of her professional life in various African countries, says that over there "corn" generally refers to animal feed, what we would call field corn. If you want to eat what we call sweet corn, you'd better ask for maize.

[heidih]

33 minutes ago, Smithy said:

That's why I wonder whether there's a regional linguistic difference in the grain names. I cited corn as an example because my best friend, who spent much of her professional life in various African countries, says that over there "corn" generally refers to animal feed, what we would call field corn. If you want to eat what we call sweet corn, you'd better ask for maize.

 

for a long time it was the same with corn in Europe. My elders had adjustment moments when they got to the States.

[Smithy]

1 minute ago, heidih said:

 

for a long time it was the same with corn in Europe. My elders had adjustment moments when they got to the States.

 

I thought I remembered something like that from my German teacher! Do you remember the word your elders used for sweet corn, or was it simply not known in the Old Country? 

[Porthos]

I'm going with Sideoats Grama, which is a native grass in Arizona.

 

Some Info Here

[rotuts]

I found this interesting ;

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize

 

when I lived in Spain in 1960 ++   there was no sweet corn to be had

 

and the Local looked at me in amazement that one would even consider eating corn

 

I ref I can no longer find suggested that sweet corn in the UK began being cultivated to

 

people as late ad 1970's

 

and if if you sit quietly on a windless evening near a large field of

 

" field corn "  ie animal corn  , say late july

 

you can hear it grow.   yes you can.

 

it squeaks as it grows.

 

it does.

Edited March 26, 2020 by rotuts (log)

[ElsieD]

We were Dutch immigrants.   Corn was thought to be only fit for animals, it was never eaten by people in the old country.  Having moved here, we tried people corn and liked it.  I remember my grandmother coming for a visit and being shocked!  shocked  I tell you! that we were eating corn.  By the time she went home, she was eating it too.

[heidih]

53 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

I thought I remembered something like that from my German teacher! Do you remember the word your elders used for sweet corn, or was it simply not known in the Old Country? 

 

No word that I recall. My dad still looks down on any corn as animal food.

[chromedome]

21 minutes ago, heidih said:

 

No word that I recall. My dad still looks down on any corn as animal food.

I can attest that in some parts of the Canadian Prairies, at least among those of a certain generation, the same holds true for turnips.

[Kim Shook]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

 

No word that I recall. My dad still looks down on any corn as animal food.

Is your dad related to @liuzhou?

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, chromedome said:

I can attest that in some parts of the Canadian Prairies, at least among those of a certain generation, the same holds true for turnips.

and lobsters down east

 

[chromedome]

4 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

and lobsters down east

 

LOL Yup, many old-timers (including some in my own family) insist that the only *real* use of a lobster is in potato beds, as mulch.

(Research at universities in Maine and Prince Edward Island, hotbeds of lobster-fishing and potato-growing alike, has confirmed this. Aside from bringing nutrients to the soil, the chitin in lobster shells apparently has a protective effect against scab.)