Beer from shards…

If you discovered some 3,000 year-old yeast,  would you use it?   If so,  for what?  Bread?   Israeli scientist had to revitalize six ancient strains of yeast, but once they had accomplished that,  they used it to  brew ancient  types of beers. 

This is the first time that living yeast were actually extracted,  identified and recreated from ancient pottery vessels and may lead to some other useful  —  and enjoyable —  techniques.  L’Chaim!

 

 

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Doughnut disaster…

We all make fun of doughnut-inhaling cops,  so we shouldn’t be surprised that they have  made fun  of themselves with a burned-out doughnut truck.

UPDATE:  Krispy  Kreme has  stepped up with a big delivery to make up for the loss of the burned out truck and the delicious treats.  now that is some sweet corporate responsibility!

 

More turkey…

I ate too much good food on Thanksgiving, had way too much fun with family and friends,  and will do penance by working in the yard today, while it’s rather chilly and a bit damp.

Pres. Trump  trolled liberals  on gas prices,  the Left criticized  every aspect of  his calls to overseas military,  and Rush Limbaugh  gives thanks  for Trump,  as  does Bruce  Bawer.

Has anyone on the Left ever read the  original Thanksgiving  Day proclamations?  Would they comprehend them if  they read  them today?  I very much doubt it.   John Hayward does,  which is why is he grateful for the scraps of  free speech  which remain to us.   Thomas Lifson is grateful to the oil companies which are  now free  to produce energy.   We should all be grateful to the  farmers who  grow the yummy things we consume year-round.

Some of the American Indians in New England  mourned  the day of celebration.  Most of the rest simply welcomed family and friends and feasted like the rest of us.

We can be grateful there are a  few conservatives  in Hollywood who have the courage to speak out.   We would benefit from developing  an attitude of gratitude.  A few  prayers  would not hurt either,  except for the atheists,  who will just have to suffer.

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving 2018…

I’ve got bread baking,  and that is all I have to do except bring ice to Thanksgiving lunch,  and fortunately one of the service stations I have to pass by sells ice and is open today.   What you  eat today  is largely dependent on where you eat and family tradition.

Peas and Carrots  met the  President and First Lady this week,  and  while he  was pardoning  the two turkeys,  also managed  to troll  the Democrats.

A lot of folks who view themselves as enlightened will renew their annual whine that Thanksgiving should  be abolished,  and  when we all ignore them again,  may fall into the black pit  of despair  they find comfortable during seasonal celebrations.

And a special slice of pie to Debby Witt of The Corner,  for her usual roundup of  Turkey Day stuff from far and wide!   I especially enjoyed the historical parts.

 

 

 

Technically poisonous food…

I’m a long-time gardener,  so I was familiar with nearly all of  this list  of foods which have poisonous parts.   But one of them I had never heard of.   I’ll bet that you,  like me,  have eaten the safe parts of quite a few of them.

 

What is milk?

The reason  this question  has arisen is that there are dozens of different food items called “milk” which are made from soybeans or almonds or other things and contain no dairy whatsoever.   If this sounds utterly ridiculous,  consider that most children have no clue where food come from,  public education doesn’t teach them anything beyond meat-is-bad,  and few of them have ever seen a working farm or a garden.  They know so little of science and have scant training in logic and common sense that they are unable to figure out that milk by customary definition comes from mammals,  not plants and nuts.

 

 

Vanilla failure…

If you bake you already know that vanilla  beans cost  almost as much as gold does now,  so you’re using a lot less of them now than you did a few years ago.   The price is due to a vanilla crop failure in Madagascar,  where 80% of the world’s supply comes from.   Then the island was hit by Cyclone Enawo in March of 2017,  which destroyed many of the vanilla orchids which produce the seed pods,  and this was followed by a major drought.

Because the crop is now so valuable,  it’s a major target of thieves,  and the unstable government will do nothing,  which forces producers to pick too  early,  resulting in lowered quality.   If the producers don’t get their act together,  the use of synthetic vanilla may kill off the natural flavoring.