Leeky vegetables with virus rant on the side
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February left in a flurry. So much so, that when I potted my bits for the market on Friday, I set the sell by date for March, not April. I only realised as I was getting myself together on Saturday morning - after having posted this photo to Instagram!
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Oops! Sell by date can't be in the past...
February passed me by because I had a mission: finishing a course in teaching English as a foreign language. My goal was to have it done by the end of the month and I happily spent my birthday doing the final assessment. The results and certificate arrived at the beginning of what, so far, is a mad March. Not least because of the late autumn heat – not unusual - but extreme. Last week we had a few consecutive days of +38°C (+100°F) which makes for lovely balmy evenings. They are also good for bad sleep, marauding mosquitoes and mandatory showers under the open sky.
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A pretty nasty virus
On the issue of the virus, I give you fair warning, I’ve been itching to have a rant.
Sales of Corona beer have plummeted? Just because it’s called “corona"?
Shunning people because they're Chinese?
Shunning people because they have had, or might have, the virus?
Panic buying of medical masks and hand sanitiser and food?
Yes, Covid-19 is nasty. And it's killing people. So does influenza - about 1% of those diagnosed. These are usually patients at risk. In other words, people in a particular age profile and/or with other conditions which make them vulnerable to opportunistic infections. No, the authorities can't actually confirm the mortality rate from Covid-19. For a whole range of reasons including the possiblity likelihood that mild cases may never have entered the health system and been reported.
Take a breath, Fiona….
If one listens to the messages, they all say that the virus spreads in the same way as influenza: droplets as opposed to in the air. Wearing medical masks doesn't protect healthy people – one doesn’t inhale the pretty, round sun-shaped virus that's part of the same family as the flu and common cold. The virus can only survive in damp, relatively moist conditions and not in perpetuity. More to the point, it can be washed away by following the traditional, tried and tested hygiene practice of properly washing one’s hands with old fashioned soap and water. Oh, and don't touch your eyes, nose and mouth if you think you're in an area where there could be an infected person.
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Source
Whenever my Mum (whose 93rd birthday would have been as I started this rant), had a cold, she would reject her children’s good night kisses and cuddles in favour of their not catching that virus. The success rate was higher when she had the cold or flu. The Mum just does what comes naturally: wipes the snotty nose, comforts and cuddles.
So
Back to my point: hygeine is fact five of on the CDC’s list – on the bottom right of the page. Don’t they always say that prevention, which is not difficult, is better than cure?
Ok, I don’t want to make light of a disease that comes from an unknown source and which presents with symptoms from mild to severe, and from people have died died.
But
What I have read – from the appropriate sources, and shared here - leaves me asking, why the panic and paranoia?
Rant over
Getting to the leeky point
For a while, I’ve been working on a number of vegetarian recipes, including some that are entirely plant-based. I’ll return to those in time. This one has been “in development” for a while, and I’ve shared some of the progress via Instagram. At last, I think I have made it often enough to
Leek Timbales
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In this instance, the bunch of leeks lurking in the fridge was originally destined for a Sunday supper soup. No reservations meant I didn't make the soup. There was also a gap in the weekly menu. After more ferreting in the fridge, I found the remains of a batch of onion sauce. In our house, this is a standard accompaniment to roast lamb along with mint sauce. You might suggest that this dish is a quiche in a different guise. I’ll admit that it was influenced by a herbed leek quiche recipe in one of my early vegetarian cookery books. However, given that the rise in gluten intolerance and that carbohydrates are not "in", I tried something different.
I was very happy with what I came up with. The Husband and I decided that I should try to replicate the dish.
But
I hadn’t really paid attention. So, as they say, practice makes perfect and over the next few months I made them again. And again. Sometimes with leftover bits and at other times from scratch. Each time I made them from scratch I set out to do it “properly”... That meant measuring, writing down, recording what worked, what didn’t.
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I really do make notes the old fashioned way: pencil and paper
With, of course, the odd photograph. Of the process.
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It also occurs to me that to make this dish vegan, one could make it with vegan cheese and/or tofu. I guess I need to experiment with that. Let's see.
So, if this dish rocks your socks, download it here. Do let me know how it turns out for you.
In the meantime, wash your hands, and don't go invading anyone's space - unless you must - and be healthy.
Until next time, be well
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa
Photo: Selma
Post Script
- I’m participating in blogpal @tracyork’s April challenge of sharing a post every day during April – on the Hive blockchain. I succeeded last year – on Steemit from which the new blockchain “hived off”…
- It seems a good way to constructively use the time during a compulsory lock down, right? For more about this initiative, please check out Traci’s post.
- If you’d also like to both join the challenge and post from the WordPress platform to the Hive blockchain, sign up here.
- I’m still blogging on Steem and more recently share my burbling on Uptrennd.
Posted from my WordPress blog: http://fionasfavourites.net/leeky-vegetables-with-virus-rant-on-the-side-2/
Fiona thank you for writing these so many words.
Nice and attractive vegetables, thanks for sharing with us.
You are welcome. Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you @fionasfavourites, for using the CO2 Compensation Coin (COCO) to reduce your CO2 footprint.
How does this coin work so well please?
Thank's @eeks In fact it doesn't work as well as expected yet. But it will start to work well when companies can get involved. It was already on the way and then Corona unfortunately put it on hold. But I'm still optimistic.
For details read the 'White Paper'
That is a very good habit to have.