kochleffel

Dinner tonight was broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots from a frozen bag, followed by New York cheddar with local wine. The wine was a new one for me, a dry Riesling from J.R. Dill on Seneca Lake. For tomorrow I have another J.R. Dill wine that will be new, a Cabernet Franc. Riesling and Cabernet Franc are probably the best varieties for this region.

I would want the salad to be mostly carrot, jazzed up with a small amount of radish -- even though I grow radishes, I don't like them in concentrated doses. I would be willing to try the drink, even though I don't trust liquor flavored to taste like something else and I think it might be better with vanilla rum instead of vanilla vodka. The wine is a Bordeaux blend, so I'll suggest a Meritage, the 2020 from Sheldrake Point. It's a relative bargain at $35. I would add the start of the Crimean War in 1854. It accomplished little for anyone, and the ostensible provoking issue had already been resolved, but it gave us the beginning of modern nursing with Florence Nightingale, plus "The Charge of the Light Brigade." The last surviving veteran was a tortoise named Timothy, the mascot of a British ship, who lived until 2004.

One of the articles about the closure of the Port of Baltimore said that it could lead to shortages of automobiles, steel, and tofu. I knew that Baltimore was a major port for car imports, but tofu?? It turns out that any tofu shortage would be in Asia. Baltimore is also a major port for the export, not import, of tofu.

You've probably noticed the warnings on HAL and other cruise-line menus about meat that is not thoroughly cooked. A post today on social media says that ground beef that is not cooked to well-done is unlawful in Canada: the person ordered a medium-rare burger in Ontario and was told that well-done is the only legal way they could serve it. Someone else said that, in the United States, Five Guys follows the same policy. In the US, the CDC says that ground beef should be cooked to 160° F., which is well-done, but it's not law. The concern is that grinding mixes bacteria from the outside to the inside, which doesn't happen with steaks or roasts. I so seldom eat in restaurants that I have no recent experience with this.

They are becoming more sociable, but strictly on their terms. Mona Lisa joins me upstairs at bedtime and lies next to me until it's time for her next patrol of the house; DaVinci gets into my lap whenever I sit down to watch television. The other day I was watching a report about cat hoarding and advised him not to watch, but he seems to have no interest in the actual programs. (Fergus liked shows with lions, and Sasha liked any with small, squeaky animals or birds.) They agree that the service in this establishment is awful, just awful.

Federal refunds are a lot slower this year. When I was doing tax prep, it typically took just 11 days.

Yogurt would add lactose, so the suggestion wouldn't be my first choice. No on the drink (pineapple juice). I think that all Sauvignon Blanc is light, so I might substitute Grüner Veltliner from Fulkerson's. The grape is the characteristic variety in the Danube valley; in a blind tasting some years ago it ranked ahead of Chardonnay, although they are different enough that I don't know how a blind tasting would have been possible. I haven't been to Falmouth in the UK, or in Jamaica. I haven't even been to the Falmouth in Massachusetts, although people I know ran the College Light Opera there for many years. I fear that this could be some of us.

For the 1976 election I was a precinct sheriff in Indiana, which has quaint names for the poll workers. The sheriff's job is to keep order, especially to prevent electioneering inside the precinct and a certain distance outside. My colleague from the other party, perhaps because starting work at 6:00 a.m. had affected his medication schedule, had a seizure and had to rest for a while. During that time I had to eject a would-be campaigner from my own party. The other precinct workers were the clerks, who handled the voter lists; judges, who pushed the button on the side of the voting machine that allowed the next person to vote (easy at a general election, but in a primary it required care to press the button for the correct party), and the inspector, the person in charge. There were pairs from opposing parties for all the jobs except inspector, who would be from the majority party in the precinct. I had that job a few years later and had to go outside at 6:00 a.m. and p.m. and announce in a loud voice, "Hear ye, hear ye, the polls are open/closed!" The Jewish practice of mussar teaches that our purpose is to be of service to others, and tried to develop personal qualities that help that. I suppose that the lasagna roll-ups could be made with lactose-free cottage cheese, but I wouldn't bother. The drink would be OK, maybe only once. For a Bordeaux blend, maybe Hector Wine Company's 2020 Essence, at $30.00. It's from Sawmill Creek, the warmest microclimate in the Finger Lakes. Do these count as "in flower"? My garden is in a microclimate that is colder than the average for this region. I have a webinar in ten minutes. I'm undecided about the rest of the afternoon.

Bedding-in for peace sounds like a publicity stunt. You'd have to be a celebrity for anyone even to notice. I will wear a cap with the Greek flag today. I might like the suggested meal but it's another that I couldn't make at home. No on the drink. For the wine, Hermann J. Wiemer Cuvée Brut 2018, newly released.

No shrimp ever here, but I'd like Roy's alternative. I'll be ready for it around 6:30 p.m. No on the pseudotini. There is still no Tempranillo in the FL so I'll counter with Dr. Frank's 2021 Amur, a grape originating in southern Siberia and northern China. News of the animal world: -- Last week JFK Airport had to call in help from the Department of Environmental Conservation to remove a seal from the runway. A local radio report from Oneonta struggled to figure out how a seal would get to JFK Airport. I guess someone there failed geography. -- A photographer in Texas got a photo of a bobcat leaping up and capturing a heron in flight. More at https://petapixel.com/2024/03/18/once-in-a-lifetime-photo-of-bobcat-pouncing-on-heron-mid-flight/?fbclid=IwAR2dXlpN7OOYNyMFy4mmmiszijJii77iDwJp9dbCqZu_RaGMrK1g6N4cs0w. Today there's a Purim wine and beer tasting at 2:00. Drinking is traditional at Purim but wine and beer tastings are not; the organizers are so concerned that someone might become tipsy that they want to cut people off after two ounces (of all wines or beers combined). For what they are charging, I think they need to offer tastes of everything plus a full glass of one, at least. Then there's a Purim play, "My Fair Esther." It's nine days since I filed my income-tax return and I'm starting to get antsy about the refund, seeing as it's the first time in a couple of decades that I'm getting one. IRS has a website that can track the processing, but a lot of the time it isn't working. Caption: You better open another bottle of wine--I'm about to start deducting household expenses.

Spacehook = the social-media site whose cruise groups are not allowed to be mentioned on CC. The group I administer isn't about any form of travel, though.

No objection to atheists as such, but I'm the admin of a Spacehook group--not having to do with religion--that is populated mostly by atheist missionaries. They seem not to remember that I'm a professional religious worker. I'd like to have chips and dip. I haven't cuddled a kitten since 1995, when Addison and Fergus were kittens; all cats since then have come to me as adults. The meal suggestion would be OK if served to me, but I couldn't make it at home. The drink seems pretentious for what it is. For a Sauvignon Blanc, I was going to go with Dr. Frank's 2022, but it's already sold out and so is Hazlitt 1852's 2022. I'll nominate Keuka Lake Vineyards 2021, which confusingly was actually grown at Hazlitt's on Seneca Lake. I did not make the cake yesterday. Dinner was asparagus with what would have been chicken cacciatore if I had had any chicken, plus a Grenache-Syrah blend from Israel.

Some daffodils are blooming in this area, but none in my garden. They'll require a few more warm days, which are not what we are having. I don't think that any cake is "healthy" (should be "healthful" unless they mean that the raspberries mustn't be diseased, which should be obvious) as a meal, and I don't particularly like coconut. I would prefer a Linzertorte: raspberry jam in a hazelnut pastry. No pineapple drinks for me, please. For a Cabernet Sauvignon, I'm sure I would like the McGregor 2017 Library Selection if someone else is paying for it ($80).

Maybe you didn't have to do anything with that part! When I lived in Boston, I found the Massachusetts forms especially difficult, and longer than the Federal forms (for me, at least). As a certified tax preparer in New York, I once prepared a return for Massachusetts and three other states. The taxpayer had thought they needed to file as a New York resident, because New York was "home," but they hadn't lived or worked in New York at all that year. Doing so would have meant five returns instead of four, and would have resulted in higher total taxes.

Peet's has a blend of coffee called Big Bang, I think. I wouldn't mind the menu suggestion, but isn't it pot roast again? Would not bother with the cocktail. For the wine, Sparkling Pinot Noir Brut Rosé from Goose Watch Winery. It's colder today, but no likelihood of s-n-o-w. Acupuncture at 12:45, class from 4:00 to 7:00.

Although Jews in the first and second centuries considered the signs of the zodiac as analogous to the Twelve Tribes, the conventional rabbinic opinion is that horoscopes don't apply to us. Ezra Pound wrote, "The yellow dogs cry portent in vain," but I don't think he meant actual dogs. The broccoli-cheddar crustless quiche would be nice tonight and I would make it if I had broccoli. Probably pass on the drink. The wine is made entirely from the Sangiovese grape, which doesn't grow here, so I might substitute the McGregor Vineyards 2016 Black Russian Red, made from Saperavi and Sereksiya Charni, except that it's $135. We had a little s-n-o-w around suppertime last night and it's still on the ground. There could be more, but it will all melt. Or there might be r-a-i-n. The class last night on Lamentations and Daniel went well. I don't teach again until May 14. I will be too busy preparing a presentation on ethical issues in alternative energy, writing an essay on my personal environmental ethic, and appreciating natural beauty (the latter is an actual course assignment). The river in my town gets its name from the Lenape language, referring to a mammoth tusk found downstream. The tusk is in the county historical museum.

I applaud certified nurses; they have achieved a higher level of qualification, like a doctor's being board-certified. The chicken would be OK, but I think that LI iced tea can only be consumed at poolside, even though the amount of alcohol would make swimming iffy. For a Chardonnay, not one of the best grapes for the FL, Cayuga Ridge Estate 2016. I took today's cloud observation from the other side of the house, so as not to excite the very excitable dogs. The Weather Channel said that s-n-o-w was falling but I didn't see any. Teaching Lamentations and Daniel tonight, mostly Daniel. It will be my last class until May--April will be too busy with Passover and I will be too busy with school.

Because of that, I rarely read posts on the board of aNother Cruise Line where I have platinum status and two open bookings.

I'd be happy with either pot roast or Roy's alternative, but dinner will probably be fish. I wouldn't enjoy the cocktail. For the wine, the 2019 Maximilien from Ravines. Cruise passengers don't visit Ashdod for its own sake; it's a transit point for Jerusalem, which is not all that near. I have some interesting photos of Jerusalem archaeological sites that most people never visit, but the pictures are pre-digital. There may have been a little snow overnight, but it was gone by the time I was up. There could be a little late in the afternoon, not sticking, or overnight.

When I broke my humerus near the shoulder in 2017, in the week of U.S. Thanksgiving, the ortho doc said that there was no alternative to surgery if I wanted the arm to be functional. Pro surgery: the arm was functional, the morning after the surgery, even if initially too painful and stiff to do much. Con: the tissue damage from the surgery required many weeks of physical therapy. That was indirectly responsible for my first cruise. PT started at the end of December and I had to cancel a January vacation. A cruise in the spring seemed like the best and least stressful replacement.

Just back from Aldi, where I bought some Irish cheese made with Irish whiskey. Behind me in the checkout line was a man buying 12 jars of sauerkraut.

On the Alaska ferries, people pitch tents on the open deck. It's also allowed to sleep on loungers in the solarium where there is infrared heating. I took a non-cruise on the AMHS in 2021. The schedules typically require staying several days in each port, and there may be gaps that aren't feasible by ferry. I boarded in Bellingham, stayed three days in Ketchikan, and then boarded a different ship to Juneau.

I have a little Irish ancestry but it's from the North so we won't talk about it today. My mother was a Camp Fire Girl. Corned beef and cabbage are probably not in my immediate future. I think that the punch needs more rum, or something. For the wine, Fulkerson's Bourbon Barrel Syrah. I have been at St. John's but did not set foot on Antigua--that was in January when I was ill and didn't leave the ship. I was awake for several hours in the middle of the night, so I'm not functioning well.

Speaking of cooking, I really like this video that Julia Child made years ago for the Smithsonian. https://youtu.be/PHJDQY4mWFg?feature=shared