No fixed plans. Not intent upon arriving.
Breakfast was a cup of coffee, and a bowl of cold cereal. I weighed 157 pounds.
I had to run some errands, so I stopped at CC Pepper’s for a Coast to Coast Cheesesteak.
Dinner was Cornmeal Crusted Pan Fried Haddock with cayenne pepper, au gratin potatoes, pan fried asparagus with bacon and parmesan cheese, and a Saranac Pale Ale.
There is an all new Blogger with a whole host of new features. This journal may morf through many outrageous, unrecognizable forms before stabilizing. I thank you for your patience in this matter.
Breakfast was three cups of coffee and two chipped venison scrambled egg burritos. I weighed 157 pounds.
Lunch was 1½ quesadillas and a Saranac Pale Ale.
In the afternoon I had another Saranac Pale Ale.
Dinner was chicken-asparagus pot pie, potatoes au gratin, some crudite, some cherry cheesecake cupcakes, and a Saranac Pale Ale.
Lots of wildlife appears in the Spring around our house. Here, a pair of Flickers perform a mating dance. We are certain they are from the family of a breeding pair that nested in our yard last year. There were as many five cavorting about in the yard last year.
Also in the Spring, Gretchen likes to get her riding mare, Sungila, out and dust off the saddle for a first ride of the season.
Then, while I was taking pictures of Gretchen and Sungila with the orchard as a back drop, I noticed that an Oriole was enjoying the apple blossoms, as well. You will have to forgive the composition as the bird refused to pose. This is his underside and his head is pointing down and back into one of the apple blossoms.
Breakfast was a bowl of cold cereal and a cup of coffee. I weighed 157 pounds.
I went over and worked at the CSA this morning. We were pulling out the volunteer Jerusalem Artichokes from a bed that we are going to plant in tomatoes this year. They make lunch using their own produce for the people who come out to help. Today they had a bean salad with celery and cilantro, a potato salad with dill, steamed asparagus spears with a vinaigrette, a pea sprout salad also with a vinaigrette, and some wheat-free, dairy-free walnut brownies, with raspberry shrub to drink.
Gretchen did not realize that lunch would be served at the volunteer work weekend at the CSA, so when I got home I had lunch again since she had made homemade flour and whole wheat tortillas. We had bean and cheese quesadillas and a Saranac Pale Ale. Later in the afternoon after some yard work I had another Saranac Pale Ale.
Dinner was lo mien with a little fresh horseradish, two glasses of Walnut Crest Sauvignon Blanc, and some apple chips for dessert.
“Flowers have no effect on tuber production,” said Randy Smith, superintendent of the Aroostook Research Farm, an arm of the University of Maine, where spud growing is serious science. “Assuming disease is not a factor, small crops are usually a result of improper soil pH, or low fertility.”
“Potatoes are weeds,” he explained, “very vigorous, sturdy plants that will grow almost anywhere and stand up to a lot of abuse, but they will not produce big crops unless they have the right conditions.”
Potatoes prefer acid soil; a pH somewhere between 5.5 and 6 will work for most varieties, Mr. Smith said. And they must have a consistent source of nutrients.
Keep moving the potato patch, he advised, as diseases can linger in the soil for three to five years. And, he added, don’t forget that tubers all form above the seed piece. Be sure to hill up your plants (pile soil or straw around them as they grow). [Land]
Land, Leslie. “Pretty With a Purpose.” The New York Times. 6 May 2004. <www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/garden/06QNA.html> (7 May 2004).
Breakfast was French Toast and two cups of coffee. I weighed 157 pounds.
Lunch was the Panda Express orange chicken with mixed vegetables on chow mein noodles with hot and sour soup, and a fortune cookie.
A gathering of friends brings
you lots of luck this evening.
Lucky Numbers 1, 2, 5, 7, 40, 43
Dinner was creamed chipped venison with steamed asparagus tips over waffles and two beers.
Breakfast this morning was a bowl of the vanilla coconut pudding left over from last night and two cups of coffee. I weighed 155 pounds.
For lunch, I made a three mile circuit around campus, stopping in the fitness center in the Intramural Building and the MBNA fitness center in the White building. Both are very nice. I think I’ll start working out Monday, since the students will be gone. It’s finals week and they’ll all be out of here shortly. On my walk, I stopped at Jimmy John’s for a Turkey Tom Sub — turkey breast, alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, and mayonnaise on a homemade, fresh-baked French bread roll (547 calories, 26 from fat) — a bag of BBQ Jimmy Chips, and a small Barq’s Root Beer.
For dinner, Gretchen made some really delicious individual Shepherd’s Pies that I had with two Sierra Nevada Pale Ales.
As you can see, this is a great way to clean out your refrigerator.
I’m separated from Emeril Lagasse by three steps. The mother of the guy in the next office was “chosen one of 50 first prize winners — out of 85,000 entries — in Emeril Lagasse’s national cooking contest.” Here is what Joe has to say about it:
The soup is good! I grew up on this stuff and can whole-heartedly recommend it!
…and here is an excerpt from the write-up in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
“I had forgotten all about it,” the Cranberry resident said from her office at Howard Hanna North Suburban.
“My husband [Joe] had urged me to enter because he loves this soup so much.”
Obviously, so did the judges, representatives from Emeril’s cooking show and B&G Foods. They found Kicked-Up Sausage and Bean Soup a winner. [Martinson]
Martinson, Suzanne. “Nibbles: Her soup’s a winner in Emeril’s contest.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 6 May 2004. <www.post-gazette.com/pg/04127/311640.stm> (6 May 2004).
Did you know that you can find the speed of light with marshmallows?