what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[Walt34]

Yesterday was one of those overcast, cold, wet, yucky days that makes one just want to just curl up with the TV or a book and shut out the world.

So I got to playing around with the camera, mounted a macro lens, got out a couple of remote flashes, color gels for them, and played with water in the kitchen sink. In the second one you can see my reflection in the water drop. Well, a pair of eyes anyway.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Those pictures are really very cool! I love the colors and how you captured the perfect moment in each.

 

[Gumby]

It's coming down like crazy right now, and the wind is really blowing. A big branch from my tamarack tree just fell off, bounced off the roof and landed in the yard. I hope it didn't damage the roof.

I just got up to see our winter wonderland. The TV news says my town got 38 inches of snow. It sure looks that way. Even the snow plows are stuck. By order of the Governor, all the state roads have been closed since 4 pm yesterday.

 

[pb4uski]

Just a normal winter snowstorm here - about 12" accumulation. Horrible that we would welcome the snow and the center of the storm was a couple hundred miles south.

Went to a college hockey game last night and have another one this afternoon. DW wants to ski tomorrow. We'll see as it is too cold right now to ski for me (7F).

I suspect that our road crews will clean up our roads and then head south to help CT and MA. During the blizzard of 78 we helped out as well.

 

[citrine]

DH cleaned off the snow in the driveway and on the car. I put everything in the crockpot for a split pea soup. Just hanging out and surfing the net

 

[Meadbh]

DH cleaned off the snow in the driveway and on the car. I put everything in the crockpot for a split pea soup. Just hanging out and surfing the net

Citrine, you have become an old married lady! Must be nice to have DH to shovel snow!

 

[antmary]

Went to a 2 hour class on freezing food with two of my women friends - it was put on by the local university ag extension. What fun! Now we're all excited about garden planning for the summer.

 

[pb4uski]

Went to a 2 hour class on freezing food with two of my women friends - it was put on by the local university ag extension. What fun! Now we're all excited about garden planning for the summer.

There is more to freezing food than throwing the food in a zip lock bag, carefully squeezing out as much air as possible and then putting the bag in the freezer?

Shouldn't take 2 hours to learn that unless you are in the slow group.

 

[Buckeye]

Spent the day writing a lesson plan and generating an animated iPad/SmartBoard Doceri presentation. My student teaching gig is teaching math to low achieving 8th graders and I have a formal observed lesson on Monday. I have never done anything so difficult in my life and I've had some pretty tough jobs.

 

[grasshopper]

There is more to freezing food than throwing the food in a zip lock bag, carefully squeezing out as much air as possible and then putting the bag in the freezer?

Shouldn't take 2 hours to learn that unless you are in the [-]slow group[/-].short bus

fify

 

[Gumby]

When you die from botulism, we'll see who's on the short bus, Sparky.

 

[powerplay]

Celebrated my Dad's 87th birthday today. My brother cooked crab last night and we ate it today and it was GOOD! I fixed coleslaw, garlic bread, and an apple blueberry crisp. We had a very nice day.

 

[SteveNU]

After working all night couldn't get home because the governor closed the roads. Waited all day for them to reopen but finally gave up and found a dark corner to take a nap. Ended up having to work tonight anyways. Only 4 1/2 months left! July 1st can't get here soon enough!

 

[Dawg52]

Raining like crazy today. Going to make my golf course too soggy to play for a few days.

Yesterday I was a pallbearer at my next door neighbor's funeral. He was a very interesting man. Played football as a freshman at Ole Miss in 1942, but took a break from college as he enlisted in the Army. He had a foot injured badly when conducting land mine sweeps, so was sent home. Couldn't play football anymore, but his old college offered to renew his scholarship anyway. He declined and stayed closer to home as he married and finished his college degree at a nearby University.

He didn't let his disability slow him down as he enjoyed the outdoors taking his family on water skiing and fishing trips. He also enjoyed hunting with his son. I remember when my aunt lived in this house she used to tell me about him leaving before the crack of dawn to go hunting with his bird dogs. His son told me yesterday he would come back from those hunts all worn out just trying to keep up with his dad. Pretty amazing considering how much trouble the foot gave him.

I enjoyed visiting with him as he would sit out on the front porch on nice days. He really enjoyed petting my dog. Gonna miss his football and war stories. He almost made it to the age of 90.

 

[bbbamI]

Yesterday I was a pallbearer at my next door neighbor's funeral. He was a very interesting man. Played football as a freshman at Ole Miss in 1942, but took a break from college as he enlisted in the Army. He had a foot injured badly when conducting land mine sweeps, so was sent home. Couldn't play football anymore, but his old college offered to renew his scholarship anyway. He declined and stayed closer to home as he married and finished his college degree at a nearby University.

He didn't let his disability slow him down as he enjoyed the outdoors taking his family on water skiing and fishing trips. He also enjoyed hunting with his son. I remember when my aunt lived in this house she used to tell me about him leaving before the crack of dawn to go hunting with his bird dogs. His son told me yesterday he would come back from those hunts all worn out just trying to keep up with his dad. Pretty amazing considering how much trouble the foot gave him.

I enjoyed visiting with him as he would sit out on the front porch on nice days. He really enjoyed petting my dog. Gonna miss his football and war stories. He almost made it to the age of 90.

That's a fine tribute Dawg.

 

[REWahoo]

That's a fine tribute Dawg.

+1

 

[Meadbh]

I am nursing a cold after doing some business traveling this week, so I am staying home and taking Zinc and Halls, and writing a report. Yes, it's w*rk, but it's the type of w*rk that I enjoy. Hope to feel better tomorrow.

 

[citrine]

Meadbh...yes I have become and old married lady! I don't even recognize myself somedays! LOL.

I worked on one of my favorite clients today, got an appointment for another Tuesday...post op!! I love scar tissue and post op clients Went to Sam's to load up the fridge and freezer....DSSon will be with us for 5 days!

 

[Sarah in SC]

When you die from botulism, we'll see who's on the short bus, Sparky.

True! But mostly that's from canning low acid veggies incorrectly. My mother did a lot of canning and freezing. We always thought we'd die from her green beans.
Speaking as a proud owner of a short bus, of course.

 

[Gumby]

Speaking as a proud owner of a short bus, of course.

As my momma always used to tell me "They sent a special bus 'cause you're a special boy. Now put on your hockey helmet and go to school."

 

[citrine]

I am so scared to try canning....freezing sounds so much better! OTOH, I made my own body wash today....grated a soap bar, added water, and voila!

 

[ERD50]

There is more to freezing food than throwing the food in a zip lock bag, carefully squeezing out as much air as possible and then putting the bag in the freezer?

Shouldn't take 2 hours to learn that unless you are in the slow group.

Yes there is (but I still can't imagine it taking 2 hours).

Most things you would freeze will do much better if you do a quick freeze, and then package them. And some things need to be blanched. For example, for fresh green beans, you would blanch them, dip in cold water to stop the cooking, dry them, place on cold baking sheets from the freezer, and put the beans on the sheets individually, not touching. They will freeze quickly, then you can put them in containers with minimal air (vacuum is even better). Wrap well to protect from freezer burn.

This way, you can take them out and thaw them w/o them being in a big mushy lump. They will tend to separate out when removed from the container. The quick freeze can make a huge difference.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

When you die from botulism, we'll see who's on the short bus, Sparky.

Botulism critters are anaerobic, and growth is inhibited by acidic levels and by cold temperatures. Freezing foods is not a botulism risk. Canning low acid products is, you need to pressure cook them to get the temperature high enough (above the atmospheric boiling point) to kill the spores.

Something I only came across recently was, even if the food has the toxin from the critters ( Clostridium botulinum) the toxin itself is destroyed by heat from cooking. So the problem would be more from canned, low-acid foods that are not cooked before eating.

Fortunately, beer pH is low enough to protect against botulism, and the alc from fermentation helps. There is some concern over the unfermented beer (wort), if stored before fermenting. But even that has been done, with no reported issues.

-ERD50

 

[braumeister]

There is some concern over the unfermented beer (wort), if stored before fermenting. But even that has been done, with no reported issues.

I've been doing that for decades. Occasionally I will make a 12 gallon batch instead of my usual 10. The excess wort gets canned right out of the kettle (in a pressure cooker at 15 psi for 15 minutes) and stored to make future yeast starters. I've used that canned wort as late as a year afterward, with never the slightest problem.

 

[NW-Bound]

The recent posts spurred me to surf the Web to learn a bit more about botulism, and I did learn a few things I did not know before. Look at the danger of aluminum-foil wrapped baked potato, for example. Garlic in oil is also a big no-no.

Since I have never done home canning, nor vacuum packing, I managed to stay alive despite my ignorance. People may find it comforting to learn that the death rate from botulism is as low as 3 to 5% due to modern treatments.

Oh, one has to spend a few months inside an iron lung, but what a time to spend contemplating the meaning of life, and thinking about how one should live the rest of his life once he gets out of the respirator.

PS. I also ran across recent cases of prisoners suffering from drinking "pruno", another term that I learned. Wondered what that might have in common with beer making.