My preciousssssssssss.......

[PB+J]

It's hard to know what to do. My county, said to be the smallest county in the US geographically, has about 300, 000 people in it. We have to eat. I've tried having groceries delivered, but it's very spotty and orders I placed on Monday won't arrive till Sunday.We dont have a big house with a lot of pantry space. I kind of have to go out. Also we love our local merchants--hardware store, supermarket, ice cream shop, cafes, lots of nice little restaurants, an italian specialty store--and we want them to survive. We just bought two gift certificates for the hardware store so they will have some cash flow: neighbors are organizing to do this. Not ever going out is maddening and we'd hate to see these businesses go and be replaced by some chain store.

We're in uncharted territory

[Mr.Gumby]

We're in uncharted territory

And it has barely started yet. The surge of cases is yet to come and if the case load overruns the hospital services we'll really be in uncharted waters, pretty much where Italy is now (and Italy has a health system far more efficient and better equipped than the ones most of will have to depend on). And I suppose there lies the importance of preventing spread, by staying in.

I went out for essentials on Thursday but I haven't spoken to anyone (outside my own household) for well over a week. It's fine, it will have to be. I was at a festival concert two weeks ago, had doubts about going at all but thought of it as a last chance saloon. Heard some nice music, chatted to a few people but didn't stay longer than necessary. One of the musicians was clearly under the weather and his quip 'I have been feeling like this since my gigs in China last week' was met with a bit of an uneasy response. Other events I was due to go to since were cancelled so it was probably a good idea to go out and give it one final lash before the inevitable shutdown. I'll do the odd supply run and keep myself to myself for the time being. But I do hope things will lighten up a bit by autumn.

[Nanohedron]

Didn't really see anything in others' carts that I would call hoarding behavior, so either everyone's already stocked up, or we're just not that panicky around here.

Time to eat my words. Had to get groceries at the supermarket yesterday, and wouldn't you know the paper products section - facial tissue, toilet paper, and paper towels - was completely wiped out (pun unintended). It was a weird thing to behold; scarcity like that isn't the norm at all. Good thing I was already set before the pandemic hit Minnesota and won't need any of that for a while! And while much of the canned goods had also been scavenged, curiously the condiments too were down to the bone. That one I didn't expect. I never dreamed hot sauce would fly off the shelves to the extent that I couldn't get what I was looking for.

But it wasn't all bad; I figured - rightly - that the pickled herring would be there for me.

[PB+J]

Didn't really see anything in others' carts that I would call hoarding behavior, so either everyone's already stocked up, or we're just not that panicky around here.

Time to eat my words. Had to get groceries at the supermarket yesterday, and wouldn't you know the paper products section - facial tissue, toilet paper, and paper towels - was completely wiped out (pun unintended). It was a weird thing to behold; scarcity like that isn't the norm at all. Good thing I was already set before the pandemic hit Minnesota and won't need any of that for a while! And while much of the canned goods had also been scavenged, curiously the condiments too were down to the bone. That one I didn't expect. I never dreamed hot sauce would fly off the shelves to the extent that I couldn't get what I was looking for.

But it wasn't all bad; I figured - rightly - that the pickled herring would be there for me.

Hot sauce? In Minnesota? Pickled herring, sure, but hot sauce?

[Nanohedron]

Hot sauce? In Minnesota? Pickled herring, sure, but hot sauce?

It's de rigueur on the lutefisk and lefse these days.

But seriously, turns out Minnesotans are the nation's top consumer of salsa. Who knew?

To paraphrase the Bard: There are more things in Minnesota, PB+J, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

[PB+J]

Hot sauce? In Minnesota? Pickled herring, sure, but hot sauce?

It's de rigueur on the lutefisk and lefse these days.

But seriously, turns out Minnesotans are the nation's top consumer of salsa. Who knew?

To paraphrase the Bard: There are more things in Minnesota, PB+J, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Things have changed everywhere! The area outside philly where I grew up was bland, bland bland, now you can find great salvadoran, thai viet and indian restaurants. My Irish American parents used to treat garlic like it was a dangerous poison, fatal in all but small doses. Now they roast whole heads of garlic

[Nanohedron]

Things have changed everywhere! The area outside philly where I grew up was bland, bland bland, now you can find great salvadoran, thai viet and indian restaurants. My Irish American parents used to treat garlic like it was a dangerous poison, fatal in all but small doses. Now they roast whole heads of garlic

Dare we Americans believe that we are finally becoming world citizens, at least on our plates? That, at least, is a start. We've had Thai, Viet, and Japanese for a good while (Chinese doesn't even count), but our latest ethnic restauranteurs hail from Ecuador, the Horn of Africa, Cambodia, and Laos. Our palates are becoming refined in spite of ourselves.

But now that the restaurants are closed and consequently on hard times, who knows how much we'll lose.

[PB+J]

And the restaurant business is vital to immigrant communities. So many ethnic groups built a base on restaurants. George Pelecanos, the great crime writer, has done a whole series about the greek american community in DC and work in Diners. We often remark on what a different culinary world our daughter lives in because we have virtually anything within three miles.

And now all those people are especially hurting. We try to do takeout when the restaurants are still offering but it get expensive fast

[an seanduine]

Nano, you have no doubt seen the bumper sticker: Make Lutefisk Legal.
Of course, lutefisk is legal across our northern border but not Balut

Bob

[Nanohedron]

Nano, you have no doubt seen the bumper sticker: Make Lutefisk Legal.

Actually, I haven't! Must be hanging out in the wrong fjords...

It's a source of controversy here, much like nattō in Japan. I'm no fan of lutefisk, but I love nattō. Go figure.

I can be pretty adventurous, but I'm pretty sure I won't be giving balut a try in this lifetime.

[benhall.1]

Lutefisk is fine. I quite like it. But no, no balut for me. [shudder]

[Nanohedron]

Lutefisk is fine. I quite like it.

I had it only once at a Scandinavian-cuisine restaurant, so was done right and top-notch, but it's not a destination dish for me by any means. The flavor was excellent, but it's the texture that put me off. I finished it, no problem, but after a lifetime of eating regular fish, being confronted with flesh the consistency of flakes of gelatin skin was a bit of a hurdle. I'll eat it if offered, but I won't seek it out.

But no, no balut for me. [shudder]

It's a cultural taboo for me; I balk at the idea of eating fetuses.

[benhall.1]

But no, no balut for me. [shudder]

It's a cultural taboo for me; I balk at the idea of eating fetuses.

Quite. Much as I won't go anywhere near the "half live lobster" served in certain quite upmarket restaurants in Hong Kong. Still moving ...

[Nanohedron]

... I won't go anywhere near the "half live lobster" served in certain quite upmarket restaurants in Hong Kong. Still moving ...

Same here. Eating animals is understandably - and rightly - a matter of ethical concern, but eating them while they're still alive is of such an order of magnitude beyond that as to be an abomination in my value system.

[Nanohedron]

Good tactic. If someone comes up to you and tries to take what you have, promptly cough on it.

There you go.

Well, it sounded funny at the time, but now it's likely to get one arrested, so better nix that idea.