Month: February 2021

Peat – something even a rolling stone won’t gather

Thursday, February 25, 2021.

In Hemingway’s Nick Adams Stories – The Three Day Blow (a slice of life about two friends hanging out when the autumn winds come) – Nick and Bill were drinking whiskey. Both were enamored of the quality of the beverage, and as they drank, they began to discuss why it was so good. Bill tells Nick, ‘it’s the peat.’ Nick complains that ‘you can’t get peat into whiskey.’

Circa summer, 1920 L-R: Carl Edgar, Katy Smith, Marcelline Hemingway, Bill Horne, Ernest Hemingway, Charles Hopkins. Michigan, Walloon Lake/Petoskey area,. Photograph in the Ernest Hemingway Photograph Collection, JFK Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.

But you can. Like grapes are to wine, barley and peat are to making whiskey. Also, the soil, temperature, climate… Hemingway, a connoisseur of all spirits, must have known this. It might be why he deemed Paris, ‘moveable.’ Maybe the city spun before his eyes.

With whiskey, peat is used as fuel to make fire that dries out the barley. It imparts a flavor. I doubt if my mom knew this – she drank slo-gin fizz when she was young and wine in her later days. Gallo Rose’ soothed some of her pain before she made her way, peacefully into the great beyond.

But she knew something. Decades before, she dealt with peat. I was there. Late 50s, maybe early 60s. Bit of a blur, now. In summer, tho’, I can tell you I wore a white crew t-shirt, blue jeans and RedBall Jet sneakers. Everyday. Along with my baseball mitt – but that’s another story.

A guy poured a half ton or so of fertilizer, ‘Guaranteed to make your lawn Heaven on Earth,’ onto our front lawn. No angels danced, no manna rained down from above. The lawn sucked just as it always did. Probably due to the shade from the overarching Elm trees, which met their doom by some Dutch tree disease throughout the 1960s. Or was it peat?

Ironically, about 5 years back, the Dutch pulled history’s most well-preserved corpse out of a peat bog. Wouldn’t it have been funny if it looked like…no, never mind!

Mom saw what happened and called the spreader back. He came – haha, silly guy. “Get this crap off my grass,” Mom told him.

“It’s fertilizer! Wait til—”

“You get it off here. It’s peat moss. It ruined my grass.”

Immediately, peat moss became a bad thing to me. Cheap, crummy lawn killer. My mom knew, and that was good enough. She may have been talked into the fertilizer, but when this peat burned her grass, she wasn’t about to be buffaloed a second time. The guy stopped arguing, scraped up his peat, and gave her cash.

Probably why I never drink whiskey. And I’m staying away from wine! Miss my mom? You bet!

Poached Salmon

Tuesday, February 23, 2021.

Eating as I write! Love to share the foods I make when it all comes together. Here goes:

1. Poaching broth:

1/2 tsp Better Than Bouillon (roasted Chicken)

one pint of filtered water – or you can use low sodium organic chicken broth

1/2 tsp powdered Dill or a sprig of fresh

1 1/2 tsp. desiccated garlic (I get mine from nuts.com)

rosemary and chives to taste

1 tsp. of butter

olive oil

2. Fresh salmon – about a half pound or a little less (for one).

Use a very low flame or 2 1/2 on an electric stove (like mine). While the salmon is poaching, prepare the salad/antipasto that goes on the bottom of the serving bowl.

  1. Baby spinach leaves – not too much. Small handful.
  2. Olive oil
  3. 1 clove of garlic – slice it up w/a razor ala GoodFellows or just use a regular knife. 
  4. 1 tsp. of Walnut Meal (nuts.com)
  5. 2 tsps. of Nutritional Yeast (I use NOW brand).
  6. Several artichoke hearts quarters
  7. 5-6 green olives w/pimento (I like Goya)
  8. 1 stalk fresh, organic celery (chop it up)
  9. 1/4 tsp powdered org. Kale (you can use reg. leaf)
  10. 1/2 tsp powdered org. Broccoli (you can use florets)
  11. Grated Parmesan to taste
  12. Pepper to taste

Directions:

Poach the fish until it flakes, or looks, ‘eat me’. While it cooks, fix up the salad/antipasto.

Put the salmon on top, spoon some of the poaching broth over it. A squirt of brown mustard (your choice) works well. 

Enjoy! A few Miller Lites are always good. Always good!

I poured the excess broth in a coffee mug and am enjoying that right now.

 

Been awhile!

Monday, February 15, 2021

Good to be with you again. Here’s what’s going on: IT’S SNOWING! We’ll get at least 10″ in the next 24 hrs. and with about 10 already on the ground – along with 4-5′ drifts – well, let’s say it’s nice inside. Like Florida, as a matter of fact! 70s, lo-humidity. Computer, TV, radio, YouTube, phone, and best of all – lots of friends in the building and on the ‘Net! Did I mention beer in the fridge? Hah-hah!

Will try to catch up a little bit by posting pics.

I shot these today.  I think it’ll let up in March. Sooner, if we drive to Fla. Carpool, anyone?

Haven’t posted a train art pic in awhile. Yep, they still keep on a  rollin’!

Made this a couple weeks ago – took the pic, wolfed it down but forgot to write the recipe! After blowing up the pic, here’s what I figure:

  1. Very fresh salmon (at the bottom)
  2. Either Gluten-free spaghetti or clean white worms
  3. Green olives/pimento
  4. Artichokes
  5. Broccoli
  6. Tri-color peppers
  7. Mushrooms
  8. Olive oil
  9. Garlic
Me turning 70 a couple of weeks ago! 70/18, I’d say.

See you Later!