The NFC B-Day Chat Thread

[bruceha2000]

If it smells ripe where the stem came off, it is Also look at the "webbing". If it is green, don't bother buying the melon. Brown is good, means it is ripe or will get there.
Oh and look for dimples. You know, the places where IDIOTS shoved their finger hard on the melon to see if it was ripe then put it back. First, that doesn't work. Second those spots will rot and get fungus, not necessarily visible until you cut it open.

You can use the "thump" test on watermelons. If it sounds hollow it is ripe.

 

[Blooie]

Grow your own Blooie
Unlike chickens, they don't need to be tended to every day.

No use, Bruce. When I see cantaloupe I don't really see cantaloupe. I see 10 hair-netted ladies with their jaws hanging down to the floor as they try to remember if they ate any while making the salad! And then I smell bleach!

 

[bruceha2000]

I can see where that memory needs to be wiped from your mind!
Maybe some bleach would help

 

[rjohns39]

I can see where that memory needs to be wiped from your mind!
Maybe some bleach would help

 

[ShrekDawg]

Morning folks... All stay safe in this crazy weather... DD is right there with you KD having no power in VA.

Well, I uploaded my entry over at connie's thread it's a Frittata.

Hope she gets her power back soon! My aunt got hers back on after 24 hours. Ours is hopefully 8:30 tonight as is my friends, who still doesn't have it back on yet.

But with the generator running it's really no different. We got more gas so were able to turn on more lights.

That's too close for comfort! I bet they are thanking their lucky stars.

It's back to being hot and humid here - we had a brief cooling off (ie, normal summer temperatures) and it was lovely.

Yuppp! It landed juuuuuussstttttt the right way.

I hope Ken's careful coming home tonight. This clear weather isn't going to last! We just got a winter weather advisory. He said it was snowy and icy up on top of the mountains yesterday when he took the candidates over to Commandary, but with the Tundra he managed it okay. But this afternoon the heavy snow is supposed to roll in with high winds, poor visibility, and bitter cold, especially up there on top. <shudder> I'll probably worry until he walks in the door now.

Is he back yet?

That is all you need. Don't lose the food and you can see. We have oil lamps for the "seeing" part, nothing for the others.


Wow. When a tree that size drops, you always wonder about all the others nearby. And if they don't go down in this storm, were they weakened and a potential danger the next time the wind picks up.

Very true. We did turn some more lights on though but yeah. We had gas lanterns and LED lanterns and candles and flashlights last night before we hooked up the generator.

My brother just got his power back on so hopefully we will soon too.

And yeah exactly! I drove around just a bit today, not far, just to the grocery store and stuff, and there are at least 2 more big trees that fell and that's just a little stretch. I saw one fell on someone's fence.

I'm surprised some of our dead ones didn't fall.

Been snowing non stop for about 50 hours now. Not super windy at the moment, but it kicks up every now & then. Thankfully it's only -8c.

WOW 50 hours!?!?!?!

@Teila - hope you are avoiding melons at the moment. As if Australia wasn't dangerous enough they've now got killer melons! Pre-cut rockmelons have been infected with Listeria and three people have died. How awful!

Not sure what you guys and girls in the US would call rockmelons - are they cantaloupes? They are the orange fleshed ones.

Scary!!!!

Good Morning Friends

Thank you for the likes and nice comments regarding my garden. It is still a work in progress and probably always will be. I am hoping to have different ‘pockets’ of features, for example, the ponds area, the bird bath area, the vegetable garden plus more projects I have in mind; still pondering what to do with under the stairs.

Kelsey sorry to hear about your Dad, I hope he recovers quickly. Scary stuff indeed!

It looks like the predicted tropical low here has been downgraded and the 7 day forecast predicts some rain but nothing like what they were thinking.

Partly cloudy and 89.5F predicted for today but only a 40% chance of showers or a storm.

Typical Sunday for me except with the additional mental preparation of having to return to work tomorrow

Thanks. I think he is feeling a little better

Thanks for the heads up Jae, I am not a fan of rockmelon but the girls get watermelon most days.

I love both

I hope mine does not have listeria!!
View attachment 1282405 View attachment 1282406

I hope not

That's the one! It's been linked to a particular grower/processor and it's a real risk for those with compromised immune systems. It is rare to have an outbreak of it.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/worl...eople-in-australia/ar-BBJP1Ty?ocid=spartanntp

Thanks

When Jenny and I were living at the Ronald McDonald House in Denver waiting for Kendra to join the family, there was a major outbreak of listeria in melons. A huge, gorgeous fruit salad was being served for dinner that night in the 2nd floor kitchen/dining area. Usually each family purchased, marked, made our own meals, then cleaned up after ourselves but a couple of times a week volunteer organizations came in and prepared dinner for everyone. Everyone was just sitting down and waiting for the line to open when WHAM - the RMH receptionist came sweeping in and asked if anyone had eaten from the salad yet. Nope, hadn't even started getting our plates. Then she turned to the volunteers and of course a few of them had kinda nibbled as they prepared the salad. She told them, "I'm sorry, but this entire meal tonight will have to be cancelled." She explained what was going on with the listeria in the cantaloupe, and then said, "Every one of these families have sick kids in Children's Hospital and we just can't take any chances with them or the patients who might have compromised immune systems." WOW! What a scramble as the volunteers put away the food, hauled it back out to their cars, then came back in and disinfected the entire kitchen.

Scared the pee-wadding out of me and I've never been able to eat cantaloupe since.

Wow scary! What did everyone do for dinner?

Grow your own Blooie
Unlike chickens, they don't need to be tended to every day.

Lol true. I want to grow melon this year

Haven't had canteloupe in many years, never could figure out which were ripe despite all the articles on Google.

If it smells ripe where the stem came off, it is Also look at the "webbing". If it is green, don't bother buying the melon. Brown is good, means it is ripe or will get there.
Oh and look for dimples. You know, the places where IDIOTS shoved their finger hard on the melon to see if it was ripe then put it back. First, that doesn't work. Second those spots will rot and get fungus, not necessarily visible until you cut it open.

You can use the "thump" test on watermelons. If it sounds hollow it is ripe.

Thank you Bruce! Very helpful!

No use, Bruce. When I see cantaloupe I don't really see cantaloupe. I see 10 hair-netted ladies with their jaws hanging down to the floor as they try to remember if they ate any while making the salad! And then I smell bleach!

Oh boy!

 

[rjohns39]

I'm not a big fan of the subject melons, but DW loves them. I like watermelon and a french melon that looks a lot like a spaghetti squash (don't recall the name)... But if I ever decide to try growing them again, they'll be under 1/2" welded wire with electric fencing. Last year I had dozens of beautiful melons at the verge of ripeness... You know... Tomorrow they'll be ready... Went out the next day and only found rinds. Raccoons ate them all. They took up too much room in my small garden to get nothing in return. If I could've caught the coons, I would have put them in the freezer as payment.

 

[rjohns39]

KD, we have a BYC member who's been 5 months without power. It just came on a couple days ago and then out again. But hopefully back on again now. Of course it stayed on long enough for her to refill her freezer with meat and then went out.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

Just saw this & thought of you @KDOGG331
https://www.epicurious.com/expert-a..._nl20180225fig_trendingrecipes&CNDID=36049693

 

[rjohns39]

Ron has some yogurt recipes.... I've only tried it a couple of times and though it tasted good it didn't firm up too well.

 

[ronott1]

Ron has some yogurt recipes.... I've only tried it a couple of times and though it tasted good it didn't firm up too well.

I make the custard recipe. It is thick and smooth