“Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn.”
Spring arrives this Sunday. I have this visual of winter packing its duffle bag while spring is unpacking its flowered tote. Spring, being experienced in the passing of the baton, will have packed a few sweaters and maybe a pair of bright yellow galoshes.
According to the weatherman, parts of the state will get snow on Sunday. I think it is just so wrong no matter how you look at it. If I were in charge, I’d make a law which prohibits snow once winter has skulked away. Luckily, we here on the cape will get mostly rain.
The sky is ominous in some spots right now. The weatherman has predicted afternoon showers. Gracie has her well dog visit to the vets this afternoon, and we’ll also go to the dump. That’s the spoonful of sugar.
St. Patrick’s Day was wonderful. Dinner was perfect. Everything was cooked just right. The meat was tender and delicious as were the vegetables. I love cabbage, but I don’t understand why. Its strange smell when it’s cooking seems to hang around far too long. I’m guessing one of the reasons I like it is I was an adult before I tried it for the first time so I brought no childhood food nightmares with me to the tasting.
When I was a kid, there were certain foods I hated. Beans, as you know, is one of them. Peaches have fur I can’t get passed though even if I could, I don’t like the taste. Over time I do keep trying the foods I wouldn’t eat. I came to love turnip. As for beans, no matter how many times I try beans of different varieties I still don’t like them. The only bean I’ll tolerate, actually the only bean I like, is green beans in that wonderful casserole which has been around for millennia. I grew into liking carrots by themselves instead of eating them mashed and mingled with potatoes the way my mother served them to us. Actually duped, not served, is the better verb here. My mother was being very clever and quite sly. It took a while before I realized potatoes didn’t turn orangey when cooked.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: beans, cabbage, corned beef, duffle bag, flowered tote, Snow, spring, St. Patrick's Day, turnip, winter
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
March 18, 2016 at 1:12 pm
Not so fast, m’lady … Spring ain’t here quite yet, and I’m bettin’ we’ll see one parting blast from our friend the Mythical Polar Vortex (which used to be called the ‘Alberta Clipper’ before Anthropogenic Global Warming became the ‘Hoax Of Choice’) as it exits thru the back door. Tell ya what: You tell your WXmen to send me the snow; I’ll talk to ours and see if we can send you some of the almost-heat we’re getting. Deal?
Today is the day for Fish Fry. My Fraternity’s chapter has organised a Fish Fry to benefit one of our favorite philanthropies, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I’ll be on hand to document photographically the event so they can forward those images to the National organization and inspire other chapters.
Later this semester will be the fundraiser for Alzheimer’s, and early next year the Make A Wish campaign kicks in again. As an alum, I donate my services to provide all the graphic arts / promotional material for their advertising. I’ve told ‘em time after time that my goal is to give them an UNFAIR visual merchandising advantage over every other campus organisation … it seems to be working. That’s a good thing.
I’ve thought about your comment regarding those non-favorite foods … except for sardines and raw oysters, I can’t think of any food I dislike enough to not eat. For a while I wasn’t crazy about greens, but when mustard, collard, or turnip greens are cooked down with a bit of wine and some bacon drippings, that’s some damned fine eatin’. Peas ’n carrots were always on the ‘Yes’ list, as were potatoes in any form. Stuffed bell peppers were good, but as a Wee Tyke, I was too stupid to realise that the pepper ‘shell’ was to be eaten along with the rice ’n meat stuffing. That was corrected as I got older. Down the road, I’d eat many strange and exotic things I couldn’t have imagined earlier … and so it came to pass that my Food Horizons were broadened – as was my waistline.
Some people say (I borrow that freely from Jeremy Clarkson’s intro to ‘Stig’ comments) Frank Zappa is an acquired taste, and perhaps he is … but he’s also possessed of an amazing sense of musical humor. Listen to this sad tale of a deflictin’ malady what be’s deflictin’ every one of us at some time or another and try to not laugh …
March 18, 2016 at 6:39 pm
Richard,
Spring arrives Sunday whether we are ready or not. Around here we won’t be ready as Sunday night Boston may get 4-8 inches of snow. It’s a deal. I’ll swap the snow for some heat. We think 52˚ two days in a row is a heat wave this time of year.
I was just talking about fish and chips to my sister last night. I haven’t had any in a while and I have a yearning. One local restaurant is now open on weekends so I might have to venture soon.
It is a good thing that you give them the advantage. Using your talent to help raise more money is not ever unfair.
Funny you should mention sardines. That’s another thing my sister and I talked about. We both ate sardines right from the can when we were kids. Now I gag at the mere thought of them. I’ve never had greens. I figure they must be in the grocery store, but I haven’t ever noticed, and I don’t know anyone who cooks them around here. Peas are my favorite ever since I was a kid.
It was in African when I got to eat foods I’ve never heard of or seen before. From then on I’ve been willing to give most things a taste. I do admit I turned down Guinea pig when in Ecuador.
It’s funny!!
March 18, 2016 at 5:04 pm
27°F last night, still waiting for spring… Should I crochet a warm jacket for the Easter Bunny?
March 18, 2016 at 6:44 pm
Birgit,
I hope we have seen the last of weather that cold.
If the Easter Bunny isn’t careful, he’ll be buried under snow.
March 18, 2016 at 6:13 pm
Hi Kat,
My mother couldn’t get us to eat spinach. She got the canned stuff and it was horridly slimy and didn’t look like real food at all. She tried to get us to eat it by saying we would be strong like Popeye. We saw Popeye ripping open a can and pouring out grey liquid sludge (black and white TV, you know) and were not impressed. I think we only started eating spinach when we grew it in the garden. Much better.
I cooked a corned beef etc for myself. It was perfect. I did the beef on Sunday and kept it in its stock. On Thursday I put all the veg except the cabbage into the slow cooker along with stock from the beef, some water and half a bottle of Decadent dark chocolate malted ale. I drank the other half. Mmm. After 4 or 5 hours, I placed the cabbages wedges on top of the stuff in the crockpot and let them steam for awhile. The vegetables were perfectly cooked. No crunch but a nice amount of toothsomeness. It was so good, I ate a big plate of it without bothering to put the corned beef in. 🙂
Cabbage doesn’t have that strange smell if you boil or steam it quickly or if you braise it in something acidic like apple cider, wine or vinegar. Or beer.
Today started out sunny but the north wind brought clouds and now a bit of rain. Not looking forward to snow.
Enjoy the day.
March 18, 2016 at 7:02 pm
Hi Caryn,
My mother never even tried to serve spinach. I don’t think she ever served it the whole of her life, Popeye’s muscles or not.
I don’t think my mother knew the cabbage trick. Actually I don’t think anyone who ate it back when I was a kid knew it.
Your dinner sounds delicious. I do love corned beef, cabbage and all those great vegetables.
I’m not looking for ward to snow either. They aren’t sure of the direction so I could be spared or get up to 6 inches.
Enjoy your snowless Saturday!
March 19, 2016 at 12:24 am
We don’t have a date for when spring arrives, we go by temperature. So spring has arrived when the average temåerature during seven days is above 32F, so spring has already sprung in most of southern Sweden and unusually early too 🙂
Thankfully now snow predicted on the Norwegian site but we might get a few drops of rain after the weekend. I do hopefor a very dry spring so that most of thge surviving fly larvae and ticks will die, they are not favorite animals of mine 🙂
I can’t stand turnips but I’ve always loved beans and peaches 🙂 I do prefer nectarines though but the furry skin on peaches doesn’t bother me at all. I do hope no late frost comes and destroys the peach flowers as it did last year, it would be nice if I at least could have one peach from my tree before something kills it 🙂
Clear sky here this morning and a bit chilly, I had hopoed for thick fog again but I guess a sunny morning will have to do 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
March 19, 2016 at 11:39 am
Christer,
We don’t really go by dates but by the day the spring equinox occurs, the day when the sun will be shining directly on the Earth’s equator, bringing almost the same exact amount of daylight and darkness all around the world. That day is known as the spring equinox here in the northern hemisphere.
The winter solstice always occurs around December 21 or 22.
Even the TV news mentioned a huge number of ticks are probable this year as the winter was too warm. Gracie got up to date on all her shots yesterday.
Cold here this morning!
Have a great day!
March 19, 2016 at 1:00 am
Well, Sunday I’m traveling to New Jersey and I hope the weather, ie snow forecast doesn’t ruin my travel plans. Regardless of the weather Sping arrives when the sun passes the equator. Global warming doesn’t just mean higher temperatures but weird weather patterns. Last year we had snow in Dallas on March 5th.
Thursday I had corned beef and cabbage at work for lunch and skipped the chicken fried steak. St. Patrick’s day is the anniversary of my father’s death. Although we are not Irish my dad always made Corned beef and cabbage on March 17th.
March 19, 2016 at 11:30 am
Bob,
My father died around the same time as yours. In the casket he wore a green carnation on his lapel as he loved St. Patrick’s Day. The priest had a green collar on. He told us he also had his white one with him in case the green was inappropriate to the family then he saw the carnation.
We could get 6-8 inches of snow. I’m bringing in the primroses I bought so they won’t die.
I hope your trip is a good one!
March 19, 2016 at 11:32 am
What a great story about the green collar and the flower. My father didn’t want us to spend money on a funeral so he asked that we donate his body to the medical school.
March 19, 2016 at 11:41 am
Bob,
My parents lived one street over from the cemetery. Their house faced a connecting street. My dad used to say just wheel him right down the street.
When we were choosing caskets, we went with a nice one which wasn’t super expensive. We all agreed my dad would have killed us if we paid a lot of money.