TOO MUCH GARLIC

A pretty snow day earlier this week

My mother was especially sensitive to spices. She avoided allspice, fennel seeds, and pepper. I don’t think my dad had such aversions to spice, but they both used garlic sparingly in their cooking, and I didn’t develop a taste for it. It’s possible I never would have. I don’t care for garlic, but I’m not the only one living here, and Mike enjoys his meat more highly seasoned than I do.

Frankly, I prefer that we season our meat ourselves, but I had two of those pre-seasoned cylindrical pork roasts in the freezer, and on a nice Sunday – months ago now – Mike decided to grill one. During brother Chuck’s regular Sunday call, I confided that I wasn’t looking forward to the evening’s meal. Too much garlic for me.

As we sat down to that meal, Mike said, “I’m afraid you aren’t going to like this.”

“I KNOW I’m not going to like it,” I replied pointedly, and I was right! To me, it tasted like it had been infused with eucalyptus and garlic – a medicinal flavor. I ate one piece of meat and completed my meal with plenty of mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables.

It's not only the flavor of garlic but the smell to which I am averse, especially when it comes from the fridge. The odor of cold garlic is an assault on my senses, so I triple wrapped the leftover roast in foil before setting it in the fridge, but it wasn’t enough. The next morning, Mike opened the fridge and commented that we might want to put the meat in a plastic bag, which he did.

With plenty of leftover roast on hand, I googled how to tone down the garlic. Others had wondered the same thing, and I found plenty of ideas. Cook it more, add an acid, and add brown sugar were a few of the suggestions, so I sliced the meat, drenched it in barbecue sauce with added brown sugar, and cooked it for several hours on high in a Crock Pot. I couldn’t tell it made any difference. The garlic came through loud and strong. I choked down half a sandwich with two little slices of meat.

Then only half the roast was left. Would it never go away?

“Tonight’s the last night for that roast,” I announced.

Rain and melting snow today

A barbecued sandwich was just fine, Mike said, so I sliced the remaining meat, mixed barbecue sauce, brown sugar, AND vinegar and put it in the Crock Pot on low for five hours. Foodie Bess was surprised that I shared so generously as I prepared the meat. “One for the pot, one for Bess; one for the pot, one for Bess.” But no, the additional concoction and cooking didn’t help. Mike again enjoyed a whole sandwich with plenty of meat while I choked down a half with a slice or two. 

What about you? Do you use garlic? KW

 

NOTES ON LEWISTON HIGH SCHOOL, 1918 (UPDATED)

Lewiston (Idaho) High School, c. 1918

It’s cold. The ground is covered with snow that melts a little in the afternoon and freezes overnight to something rather treacherous to navigate in the morning hours. Nothing much is happening in real time, so here’s a post I promised months ago.

Despite having seen three children through Lewiston High School in the late 1990s, I am not well-versed on its history. The building in 1918 when my aunt and uncle were students is not the same as the one my children attended, which was built in 1927, though it is the same campus. With the 2020-21 school year, LHS left its downtown campus and moved to the newly-constructed building in the Lewiston Orchards. It looks huge.

“They were well-past needing that new building,” observed Mike.

Earle Dobson

Yes, the community spent at least 20 years arguing over whether or not a new one was justified. “All they have to do is fix the building they have,” said members of the community who opposed paying for the new facility. But son Clint explained that the old building simply could not be updated to meet the technological needs of today’s students.

Well, I digress. The LHS class of 1918 had 61 members and was the largest class up to that time. I counted 30 juniors but 80 sophomores. Despite the fact that Mr. Simmonds, the school superintendent, made much of Uncle Earle’s enlistment in the navy, three others were mentioned in the annual as “former members of the class now in the service.” Earle probably stood out because of his age (22) and career goals.

Frank Simmonds, center; Joel Jenifer, upper left

Frank W. Simmonds (1876-1971) came to Lewiston to serve as school superintendent in 1913 and was instrumental in developing the junior-senior high school program. Much to the regret of the community, he left in 1920 to work for the national chamber of commerce. He went on to serve in food administration under Hoover and then for the American Bankers Association until retirement in 1944. A talented administrator, he then served as president of the American Genealogical Society. He was also an excellent gardener, a skill he imparted to Lewiston students, encouraging them to grow vegetables during WWI.

Joel Jenifer became principal of LHS in 1902 and replaced Simmonds as superintendent in 1920. Mr. Jenifer retired in 1929 and then continued to live in Lewiston and serve in various positions in the public and private sectors well into old age. In 1959, 30 years after his retirement from the school district, the newly-built junior high school was named for him – Jenifer Junior High. Today, the school is called “Jenifer Middle School.” Mr. Jenifer died in 1964 at the age of 94.

There were 25 members of the faculty in 1918 – 9 men and 16 women. All the women were “Miss” except for the newly-married Mrs. Ray E. Williams, the former Miss Edna Marks. KW

[The history of Idaho School District #1 buildings can be found at this link -- https://www.lewistonschools.net/lewiston-schools-history/]

MUSINGS ON GROCERY SHOPPING

 As I write this morning, it continues to snow. We don’t mind too much, except that Mike’s toes don’t like it when it’s cold. And it’s not easy to meet the Fitbit challenge of 250 steps per hour when I can’t step outside. But on a positive note, Mike says he can’t wait to get his Jeep Cherokee Trail Hawk out and drive it in snow mode. No, we won’t go far.

Mike and I have discussed that we don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to navigate the in-person retail world. It used to be a simple matter of putting items in the cart, checking out with a store employee, and handing over the money, but the process is becoming more complicated. Self-check stands are more evident than ever before, and if you’re buying just a few items, the store rather insistently encourages you to use them. It's a system that is not without problems.

Walmart has something called “Scan and Go,” which I don’t understand – and don’t particularly want to. And by the way, the last time we shopped there, the associate explained that they are moving to plastic sacks made of recycled material for which the customer must pay five cents per bag.

“We brought our own bags,” said Mike.

“Perfect!” said the associate with a smile.

“This is the way they’re forcing us to bring our own bags,” commented Mike.

Albertsons still has signs encouraging the shopper to bring his own recyclable bags, but early in the pandemic, we carried our bags into the store only to be told that the employees could not touch our bags.

“I don’t want your plastic sacks,” said Mike, “so I will bag our groceries.”

“Fine,” said the cashier. But I was put off because everything I touch in the store has been touched by their employees, and I don’t trust that their hands are cleaner than mine.

Albertsons and Walmart both have pick-up services, where the customer orders and pays online and then simply picks up his order at the store. I have a friend who loves this service. She just drives to the designated pick-up area and an employee loads her car with her groceries.

Albertsons has been my “go-to” grocery store since we moved to Clarkston years ago. I have been with them through a number of different shopping systems, promotions, and corporate change-overs. When they instigated their “Just for U” program, I stepped up to it, registering my phone number and selecting digital coupons that give me deeper discounts on things I buy. But I have observed that many shoppers don’t participate in that system, which is understandable given the location of the store and the underprivileged base that it serves.

But now they’ve taken their digital “Just for U” program to a new level that further screens out the needy. They propose to move to a “membership” format wherein the customer will pay for his “Just for U” benefits. There will still be some discounts at the free level, but if you want deeper discounts, you will have to pay for them. I am NOT impressed, and I said so, pointing out that Walmart is just a block away, and if they’re going to charge me to be a customer, I can afford to drive to Winco!

The best part about this Albertsons store is that it’s right next door to JoAnn’s Fabrics, but trust me, I shop JoAnn’s without going to Albertsons. KW

 

MAPLE TREE TAKEDOWN -- FINISHED!

Tree ready to be felled

Mike approached a tree service to take the two remaining limbs off the maple tree. Those limbs leaned towards the neighbor's house, and it seemed prudent to have a professional remove those. The worker came to assess the job, and from what I heard, I thought that he and Mike weren’t quite having a meeting of the minds, but it didn’t matter. They agreed on the price, and the work would get done.

Mike at corner of shed; workman at tree

The workman returned Monday after lunch. I wasn’t surprised when he hooked a cable from the tree to his pickup and cut down the tree, limbs and all. He wasn’t here long. He knew what he was doing and he did it, and we were relieved that it was done.

Maple tree as it's falling

Mike

Monday morning, Mike pruned some limbs off the purple ash and took those trimmings to the landfill. In the afternoon, after the maple tree was felled, we again tossed branches and limbs into the pickup and made another trip to the landfill. We also stacked limbs to be cut and split, but that can wait. We (especially Mike) worked hard. 

 

Maple wood ready to be cut and split

So, that’s that for now. What next? Not sure. It’s cold and the forecast is for continued cold – and colder – over the weekend. KW

 

TAKING OUT THE MAPLE TREE

Nov. 11 -- and maple has yet to drop leaves

Mike likes to fix things when they fail. Not me. I have noted in my years of marriage – and even before – that fixed things don’t stay fixed. As much as I believe in “reduce-reuse-recycle,” I still maintain that attempting to fix things that weren’t meant to be fixed can be a waste of time and money. Fixed things are subject to breaking again. Sometimes we have to turn to that other “re” – “replace.”

The beginning of the end

So, when the leaf blower quit working, I said, “Just replace it." I tried to appeal to his sense of value. "You deserve one that works,” I said. But it seemed to Mike that even though we’d had it several years, he hadn't used it all that much. So, he tried to fix it – making calls, ordering parts, spending time on it – and in the end it wouldn’t start.

Then it occurred to us – if the tree was gone, we wouldn’t have leaves, and we wouldn’t need a leaf blower!! For various reasons, the subject of removing the maple tree has come up from time to time in the 15+ years since Mike planted it. And while he said he would miss sitting under it in the summer, we agreed that it’s overgrown and leaf removal is a lot of work – at least two big pick-up loads of leaves each November. I also think that it’s not a pretty tree. In autumn, the leaves take their own sweet time turning from green to yellow, while a smaller volunteer maple sitting nearby is a gorgeous red. Why not take out the older maple and allow the little guy a chance?

As it now stands

At first, I thought we would have it professionally removed, but that was never Mike’s plan. Once the decision to remove was made, he couldn’t wait to start the process. And though it went unspoken, I immediately realized that I would be “first assistant.” “Ask Clint to help,” I suggested.

“I’m not going to waste Clint’s time with what I can do myself,” said Mike. And of course, there is that. As seniors, we want to do what we can do for ourselves for as long as we can, and we don’t want to bother the youngsters who have their own lives.

A growing pile of maple firewood

So – yeah – I went out and helped. I threw branches into the pick-up and tugged on limbs by means of a rope while Mike sawed. And Friday, Clint came over and helped when more skill was required – someone who could actually control the pick-up; someone with enough spatial acumen to advise Mike – and Clint has that gift.

The next step is to rent a manlift in order to take down the higher limbs. KW

GET OUR VACCINATIONS -- CHECK

It was a given that Mike and I would comply with the recommendation to be vaccinated against Covid-19, even though I have misgivings. It’s not that I’m afraid of the vaccine or being vaccinated. Somehow I just don’t trust that this series of vaccines is the answer. Oh well.

Even though I’m well within the 65+ age group, I was fine with waiting my turn, but daughter Hallie suggested Mike and I should pursue vaccination as soon as possible. She would not be eligible right away, she said, and she would like to be able to see us. So, last week we registered at the local hospital, and at that time they still had no information as to when the vaccine would be available or when we would be scheduled.

Then on Monday, a friend told Mike that a local corporation, SEL (Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories), was scheduling vaccinations on Wednesday (Feb. 3), so Mike signed us up. They said they were administering the Pfizer vaccine, and we would receive appointments for the second shot in three weeks.

I was skeptical. Why would we get a vaccine at SEL instead of a clinic or pharmacy? And why did we hear about it through word of mouth?

Well, long story short, Mike signed us up, and we were both immunized today at SEL. The event was well-organized, and it was a surprisingly pleasant experience. We were told that SEL had the room and the personnel, so they volunteered to administer the vaccine. We were provided appointments for the next shot in three weeks. KW

FINISHED PROJECTS

My dolls, Shirley Anne and Molly, model recently finished outfits for Hazel, my great-grandniece's doll.

 

 

 

In these photos, Shirley Anne is dressed in a beautiful blue stretch knit party dress, while Molly wears a heart-themed sweater made from a pair of knee socks.

 

The dress pattern had been on my “to do” list for several years. I had wanted to make the longer, tiered gown but didn’t have enough fabric. Other issues cropped up as I worked with this stretchy knit. The Velcro closure was so horrible that I actually threw the dress in the trash. However, the next day I retrieved it, carefully ripped the Velcro off, stabilized the back, and then re-applied the Velcro.

I have finally learned – if only I remember – that an iron-on stabilizer on the back edge works wonders in keeping the fabric from stretching out of shape.

And that brings me to making doll sweaters from very stretchy socks. Stabilizing the back pieces makes finishing the opening so much easier. I'm especially proud of the "black hearts" sweater because I was able to apply the ruffles from the socks to the bottom edge of the sweater.

In January, I finished three “sweaters from socks” –

 

. . . this glittering black and gold holiday number . . .

. . . and the two Valentine-themed sweaters. I actually remembered to take a “before” picture so that you can see the process.

 

“What’s wrong with these socks,” asked Mike, as he watched me lay out the pattern.

 

“Nothing,” say I; “I bought them because they make such cute doll sweaters.” 

 

And I paid homage to the era with a mask.

 

 

 

And now the dress and sweaters are ready to  be shipped to Hazel. KW