Merry Christmas Everyone

I pray all of you have a peaceful holy day. It has been a really rough year for all of us. Hopefully Christmas weekend we can shut the door on all the crazy and have a little cheer and goodwill.

I plan on making venison backstrap Wellington pies for Christmas dinner. I will let you know how it goes.

See you next year,

John

Coronavirus: Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf says coronavirus approach ‘has failed’ – BBC News

BBC’s ‘Poke a Stick in Everyone’s Eye‘ Headline:

Sweden has been criticized for its more relaxed approach to handling the pandemic. (A completely passive voice sentence)

Source: Coronavirus: Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf says coronavirus approach ‘has failed’ – BBC News

What? Huh? Sweden took a relaxed, ‘personal common sense’ policy when it came to Covid-19, and are now wringing their politically correct hands over their death rate. So where is their rate?

• Belgium 1574 per million
• Italy 1113 per million
• Spain 1039 per million
• U.K. 971 per million
• U.S. 950 per million
• France 980 per million
• “Do Nothing” Sweden 779 per million
• Switzerland 742 per million
• Netherlands 602 per million

Maybe it is survivor’s guilt. I suppose they could have undertested and underreported like India.

Poultry Carcass Soup

Chicken and Turkey Frame Soup

So you have pretty much finished off your rotisserie chicken or your roast turkey. Sure, there are lots of good meat bits left, but is it worth the time it takes to recapture one last meal off the bird? That’s a rhetorical question. (This only works if you actually leave some meat behind.)

Place the bird’s frame in a pot of 4-5 cups of water. More for turkey, a little less for chicken. It really depends on your bird’s size. You may have to break the bird’s frame to submerge it.

Add:

• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1&1/2 tbsp crushed garlic.

Bring to a boil and then simmer for 2-3 hours until the meat is soft and starting to fall away from the bones. Remove the frame from the broth and pick off all the good bits of meat and set them aside. If you pick off the not-so-good bits and set them aside too, your dog will love you. For some primal reason, dogs like cartilage.

Strain your broth, picking out good bits and throwing out the cooked onions and other particulates while keeping the remaining 3-4 cups of clear bone broth.

Add to bone broth:

• Good meat bits
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 1&1/2 cup sweet potato (the smaller you cut your sweet potato, the quicker it will soften to mush.)
• 3 bay leaves

Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer.

Spices:

• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp caraway seeds
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp marjoram
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp savory
• 1/4 tsp tarragon leaves
• 1/4 tsp salt or to taste

Crush spices in a mortar and add to soup.

Simmer until sweet potato is mushy and adding starch to the broth. That’s it, and you cannot get it from a can.

Covid Moves Ahead of Heart Disease for Idaho in November

COVID related illnesses are the leading cause of death in Idaho in November.

According to statistics provided by IDHW, from January to November the leading cause of death in Idaho was heart disease, at 2,851. Next came cancer, 2,707; COVID-19, 863; accidents, 794; chronic lower respiratory diseases, 786; cerebrovascular diseases (stroke, aneurysms, blocked arteries), 672; Alzheimer’s disease, 657; diabetes, 434 and suicide, 357.

But for November only, Idaho deaths related to COVID-19, according to the preliminary report, totaled 247, followed by heart disease, 233, and cancer, 224.

Source: Bonner County Daily Bee

Fortunately the FDA appears poised to give final approval for the first vaccine sometime early next week.

The initial shipment of 6.4 million doses will be pulled from warehouses within 24 hours of FDA clearance, federal officials confirmed, and the first wave of vaccinations will be administered to health care workers and nursing home residents as soon as next week.

What Covid can do to Your Lungs – A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Covid is a vascular inflammatory virus. Your lungs are basically capillary sponges, which makes them especially susceptible to the virus. The virus triggers the immune system, and in the subsequent battle, the immune system in some people overreacts and releases inflammatory chemicals that damage the infected tissue. This is what can happen, so give the virus some respect. It is not Captain Trips, but it’s worse than the flu.

This is a Covid infected lung.

Asiago Cauliflower Soup

Asiago Cauliflower Soup

I usually fail at cauliflower. In my kitchen of irreproducible meals, cauliflower has led to more than it’s fair share of tuna melt dinners, but somehow there seems to be a head of the smelly vegetable in my fridge most of the time. Just sitting there. Staring at me. Challenging me to turn it into a palatable meal. Here is to never quitting. Retire, yes. Quit, no.

1 head of cauliflower
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp crushed garlic
2 bay leaves

1 cup grated asiago cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 12oz can evaporated milk

1/2 tsp chipotle pepper powder
1/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp marjoram
1 tsp ground mustard

Crush spices in a mortar and set aside.

Core and cut cauliflower. Boil chopped cauliflowerettes/onion/garlic/bay leaves in chicken broth until soft. Remove bay leaves. Puree soup solids in a blender. This will smell bad, but trust me. Return to stove then add spices and grated cheese. Simmer, stirring regularly, until mixed throughout. Add evaporated milk, reheat until bubbling but not boiling. Salt to taste. Serve.