kochleffel

Do you remember the episode of I Love Lucy in which the Ricardos and Mertzes are flying back from Europe, Lucy and Ethel want to smuggle in a large cheese, so Lucy holds it in a blanket and insists that it's a baby?

Once I drove with a friend from Oregon to Port Angeles to get the ferry to Vancouver Island. The friend wasn't quite vegetarian, but at every stop she bought fruit. By the time we reached B.C. she had eaten all of it except one Yakima peach that had gotten lost in the car. I declared it and the agent asked us to find it. Friend was furious.

I wonder whether they make any cars with built-in pastry holders.

My experience is that slugs love basil. You can thwart them by growing it in containers.

Some cruise terminals in the US don't require forms, in particular where there are facial recognition systems. At these, there will be a customs officer standing next to the machine. Say "I have some food that I may need declare." The customs officer will usually ask what it is, and then either wave you through or direct you to agricultural inspection.

What we need is a National Release Your Caps Day. As an editor I spent a lot of time replacing both all caps and bold type with italics. A school contemporary of mine was killed by lightning, on a golf course. I would like zucchini gnocchi and you can deliver them at 6:30 p.m., please. No on the drink. Syrah/Shiraz grown in the FL is more like that from the Rhone than from Australia, but we'll try the 2022 from Atwater Vineyards, $45. ""An unapologetically spicy Syrah, it explodes with ground peppercorn, clove and bay leaf. Only later do you notice the fresh cranberry and cherry fruit is very much there, too. A seam of racy acidity slices and dices the midweight palate. Here the tart red fruit really shines, succulent with a cool-climate crunch, tied in a bow with sappy, spice-flecked tannins," according to Wine Enthusiast.

My energy level recovered just in time for bed, with the result that I was awake until about 4:00 a.m. My arm is not as bruised as I expected, but there is a needle track running crosswise to the vein. Yesterday there was an open cot for double red cells by apheresis and they "invited" me to do it. Needles in both arms. Tried once ca. 2002 and was told never to do it again.

I'm exhausted after the blood donation. Not from being down a pint, but from all the difficulties of both starting and ending it.

Thanks but no thanks on deciding to be married today, and it's not my birthday. I learned a bit about the Industrial Workers of the World, the "Wobblies," in graduate school, the first time. Pasta doesn't feel right for today. I might or might not like the cocktail. The grape varieties required in Valpolicella aren't grown here, so I'll nominate Swedish Hill's 2017 Cabernet Franc-Lemberger blend, $21.99. "This 50:50 blend combines the tannin structure and body of the Cabernet Franc with the rich berry fruits and black pepper of the Lemberger. The result is a round and rich dry red with a lovely finish." Acupuncture this afternoon and blood donation right after. I visited Aarhus/Århus in 2022 on the Voyager of the Seas when it was a replacement for Gothenburg. The few photos I have are similar to some already posted. We had a peculiar guide who was from Turkey. It is not unusual to have an expat guide for a tour in English but usually, in Europe, the expat is from the UK. Our Turkish guide seemed not to like Denmark very much.

I have enough trouble with the code for the wifi. Please don't make me learn a code for the bar. No, no, a thousand times no on the meal (pork) and the cocktail. For a Cabernet Sauvignon, Dr. Frank's 2021, $26.99. "Seductive complexity in black fruit scents, a hint of foresty dried herbs, and a touch of leather, green peppercorns and cedar spice. Polished tannins are grippy and round the fruitness, giving breath of texture, and providing a strong foundation for the fresh, mouthwatering black fruit." Fruitness is their word, not mine. No idea what dinner will be, except that it will include greens since I have both chard and kale. The latter, which is the only green that I dislike, is the result of a mixup with Misfits Market that resulted in receiving the default order. To fill up a box, they often include snack foods but for once those are all things that I might have bought intentionally.

I generally avoid French onion soup because it seems to be all about a bunch of messy cheese, but I would try a vegetarian adaptation. Actual dinner tonight will be sautéed pattypan squash, since I finally got some, with kosher uncured hot dogs warmed in the same pan. No on the cocktail (complicated). Black Box is usually a decent brand for boxed wines, but I buy only red, usually Pinot Noir, because I don't finish a bottle of red wine before it oxidizes. AFAIK the Pinot Noir contains no additives except sulfites. I'm not very fond of Pinot Grigio to begin with, and since this one is sweetened -- I guess for the mass market, as Pinot Grigio is usually completely dry -- I'll nominate one of the very few boxed wines from the Finger Lakes, Bully Hill Grower's White, $18.99 for 3 liters, which is definitely sweet.

I've just been reading about the tourists -- at least 10 -- who have been found dead or are missing after hiking in Greece, which is even hotter than usual this summer. (Athens is the hottest capital in Europe.) Most of them are over the age of 70 and were hiking in challenging terrain. It reminded me of when I got bitten by a tick in Oklahoma and consulted my doctor because I was leaving for Israel the following week. I had no symptoms of Lyme disease or any rash, and all he could do in that respect was tell me that if any developed, I should go to a major medical center. Then he said that Lyme was fairly rare in Oklahoma City -- I had previously lived in East Lyme, Connecticut, where it's not rare at all -- but there was a greater risk of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which was not at all reassuring. Then he asked me to wait while he checked on whether I needed any vaccinations. The answer to that was no, but he warned me that the greatest health risk was heatstroke. I said that Jerusalem was no hotter than Oklahoma City, and he replied that, at home, I would have the sense to not to run around in the afternoon heat, but while traveling there was no telling what FOMO might lead me to do.

I think we need to restock the bubble wrap.

The seven-hour webinar is over and I only fell asleep once.

One of my friends was a bit overbearing after she met Madeleine Albright at a Wellesley alumnae gathering. The friend wasn't at all impressed when I said that one of my college contemporaries was then the president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Albright, who certainly knew him, would have been more gracious, or at least more diplomatic. When I worked in California, I had a troublesome employee who apparently wanted to show how hard she was working by not taking full lunch breaks, which could have gotten me, as the executive director, into trouble. I would like the green beans if they're not too charred. I misread the cocktail formula as specifying 1 cup of gin. For the wine, Wagner Vineyards 2020 Pinot Noir Reserve, $29.99. "This elegantly styled, oak-aged pinot noir is produced only from the most ideal growing seasons. This Pinot Noir has a gorgeous fruit forward bouquet. A beautiful wine that compliments food well without overpowering. It will age beautifully!" This will be a confusing and inconvenient day, because I have a webinar from 11:00 to 6:00 but want to get to the farmers' market between 3:00 and 6:00, too.

In the time I'm thinking of, when I was in high school, CKLW was a contemporary hits/top 40 station, playing the same hit songs over and over. When Canadian content requirements took effect, the format had to be altered, which was beneficial to Canadian artists such as Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell. What hurt the station more in the U.S. was the growth of FM broadcasting, especially since Canada, for a while, didn't license FM stations for for popular-music formats. It was a peculiar case in that CKLW, although broadcasting at 50,000 watts, was a Class B station, not a Class A clear-channel*, and so was required to protect a station in Mexico that was also on 800 AM. That meant switching at nightfall to a strongly directional signal, aimed to the north and east, because AM signals travel so much farther at night. On the other hand, it was not protected from a much more powerful signal on 800 AM from Bonaire, with the result that at night CKLW could sometimes be heard in Scandinavia, but not in relatively nearby places in Indiana where the Bonaire signal overpowered it. I stopped hearing CKLW much when I started college, even though my college was within range, because most of my friends there were from other places and, as far as they were concerned, there was no decent radio in the Middle West anyway. In 1984, CKLW gave up on the pop market and switched to a big-band and jazz format, firing almost the entire staff, including Rosalie Trombley, and going automated. In recent times it's had a talk-radio format, with Canadian news but talk shows syndicated from the United States. *Clear-channel stations were authorized to broadcast at 50,000 watts on a unique frequency to ensure that everywhere in North America would be able to hear at least one radio station 24 hours a day. The idea was that every major city would have one, but only the largest cities got more than one. WOR New York and WGN Chicago are examples. WJR 760 was the clear-channel station in Detroit. The national following of the Grand Old Opry stems from its being on WSM Nashville, which can be heard over most of the country at night.

BT,DT. Twice, as an executive director. In one case it was a large rummage sale, with no plan to replace the income. In the other, it was membership recruitment: new committee wanted to stop the practices that work and do something else that, upgrade the food, that did attract people -- but only freeloaders who never joined (and were never asked to, because actually asking anyone to join was one of the things they stopped doing).

International Women in Engineering Day and the posts about it made me think of Sheila Tobias, a university administrator who, when working on Wesleyan University's transition to coeducation, studied about the gender gap and coined the term "math anxiety." It amazes and disconcerts me that I can remember her name when I usually can't remember the names of people I met ten minutes ago. I consider Cleveland home, so I have a civic duty to know nothing about Detroit anything, even though my high-school friends all listened to CKLW (Windsor, Ontario), which in those days had more listeners in Cleveland than in Detroit. It may be months before we're ready for the soup, and the cocktail is too concentrated to drink in this weather. The wine review fails to mention the feline factor but that doesn't mean there isn't any (I am largely unable to detect it, anyway). From the Finger Lakes, Keuka Lake Vineyards 2022, $20. "Lovely notes of Passion Fruit and floral aromatics on the nose with a crisp, refreshing finish. Perfect for warm spring and summer days accompanied by fresh seafood." I'm not able to post photos from the future, so no pix of the Panama Canal until December. AI is probably working on that, but so far it impresses me as closer to AS, Artificial Stupidity, and as there is so much natural stupidity around, I don't understand why so many people are trying to develop artificial versions. I have been to the spot in Iceland that is believed to have been the original meeting place of the Althing. I slept fairly well but woke with pain in every joint. I need to do yard work, but I don't use outdoor power equipment in the morning on Sunday, and later it will likely be raining.

Yup. Mercaptan is in the same class.

None of the special days really impresses me, but you can read about Radiant Peace here. I wold probably like the stir-fried Japanese eggplant but won't be making it, at least not bfore eggplants are in season. No love potions here. In the Finger Lakes there are lots of choices for a Lemberger rosé, including Anthony Road Rosé of Lemberger, $25.99. I spent a bit less than a week at Tórshavn--would have been a full week but I missed a flight connection in Iceland--in 2017. It's pronounced approximately "toe-a-shawn." Faroese pronunciation is very surprising, partly because written Faroese was prohibited by Denmark for centuries--the first Faroese Bible wasn't published until the 19th century--and the spoken form changed rapidly while the written form remained as it had been in the middle ages. Written Faroese and Icelandic are mutually intelligible but the spoken languages are not. This looks like it should be a private home but is actually the Ministry of Finance. I have no pictures from the event I enjoyed most, which was indoors and fairly dark: a Faroese "cultural evening" at a hotel, with Faroese songs, stories, and dancing. The greatest number of guests were German, most in a group seated together, but one man at my table was a science teacher from Germany who was camping in the Faroes for a month. A young Canadian was next to me, and then a couple, originally from the Faroes, who had lived in Denmark ever since university there. For a cruise excursion, I'd especially recommend a boat trip to explore the sea caves. A majority of the passengers on that trip were from Denmark, and immediately distinguishable from North Americans because they all wore heavy, black, wool coats and hats, while everyone from the U.S. and Canada wore brightly colored spring jackets (most with a sweater or vest under, because it was cold on the water). The Faroe Islands are part of the Kingdom of Denmark. No trip is complete without ruins. Here is a menu from the strangest restaurant I've ever eaten in. It specializes in traditional Faroese food, which is all preserved by drying, fermenting, or both. The fermented lamb is produced on the premises and taste and smell will stay with you for at least a day. The actual menu when I was there was slightly different, but not drastically. Each of the many courses was served with a different alcoholic beverage--champagne, white and red wines, beer, sherry, cognac, all full pours--and I was exceedingly drunk by the end. I had to rest on a bench in the harbor for half an hour before I could walk to my hotel, only a few blocks away. It's going to be only 85° today.

The usual term for it is not nearly so polite. It comes from thiols that develop during fermentation, and while it's characteristic of Sauvignon Blanc, it doesn't develop uniformly. Some also have a green-pepper or grass character from pyrazines. They may be more noticeable because SB is typically unoaked, so they don't have the competition. Not everyone is equally sensitive to it, either, or it may come across more as sulfurous. I rarely notice it, but I'm immediately aware of any barnyard character in red wines. In polite society that might be called "blackcurrant."

A thunderstorm has just passed through: lots of noise and wind, not much rain, but the temperature dropped 20°. I was starting to cook meat for dinner when I noticed that there was a dairy pan in the sink. It's a fundamental of kosher cooking that these two never meet. The pan has now been washed.

No, wait until they put a picture of a pineapple on the stateroom door.

In favor of yoga and music, don't celebrate Litha. BTW, the solstice in North America was yesterday, not today, because of leap year. Hooray for New Hampshire. I would have to skip the grilled eggplant although I might make something like it with pattypan squash (if/when I get any). The drink doesn't sound appealing. AFAIK there are no producers of Semillon in the Finger Lakes even though it would probably do well; the reason is likely lack of market demand. I'll substitute Hazlitt's Pink Cat, $10.99, made from the Catawba grape, which is a hybrid of Semillon and a native grape. It originated in Virginia where the Semillon parent may have been introduced by Thomas Jefferson, and was the basis of the Finger Lakes wine industry from about 1820 until after Dr. Konstantin Frank began planting vinifera in the 1950s.

First: this is all very confusing. Tim Roberts was the name of my dentist when I lived in Oregon. Second: could everyone please stop posting such interesting photos? I am trying not to book any more cruises until I've taken at least one of the ones already booked.