Skip to main content

Merry Christmas!

 

Photo taken by my cousin at the Cleveland Botanical Garden Glasshouse

I'm back from a wonderful Christmas in Cleveland, where my cousins and I watched movies, went to the botanical gardens and had lunch a restaurant in Little Italy. The botanical gardens had wreaths, gingerbread houses, table settings and Christmas trees created by dozens of different garden societies and individuals vying for first place. The glass house was full of butterflies and tropical plants--some of them arranged to look like Christmas trees, like the one in the picture. Outside, white statice was still in bloom and I could even smell some of the herbs. I saw roses (dormant) that I hadn't seen since I moved away from Denver: alba semi-plena, Marchesa Bocella and Salet. Hmm...maybe these could do well in Indianapolis. 

Oddly, most people were wearing masks outside in the gardens even though COVID has little to no spread outdoors, and cloth masks don't stop aerosol particles. At the two Wendy's restaurants in Columbus where I had lunch, one was take-out only and the other had no dine-in customers except for me. An employee said that was normal. But the Italian restaurant in Cleveland was hopping in the middle of the afternoon. Half the employees wore masks; our waitress wore red lipstick. It was the warmest, coziest, most lively place I've been in two years. 

We wore masks where required. But I'll be darned if I'm going to quarantine for 10 days or wait in line for two hours for a test when I don't have COVID symptoms. My dog sitter caught COVID right before I left, but she still came over and fed Biggs. Since surface transmission hasn't been a significant vector for COVID, I'm not worried about the little time she spent at my house. If I get COVID, it's far more likely to have come from the restaurant. 

The local news showed several events being canceled in Ohio; not so in Indiana. One, we're pretty much done with the hysteria here, and two, we had a late summer wave that didn't happen in Cleveland and COVID is quickly running out of Hoosiers to infect. COVID hospital admissions here are tanking and officials have identified only one case of Omicron. Hopefully, we're starting to see the end of serious COVID. 

Comments

So pleased you had a good time with your cousins.
That 'Christmas Tree' looks great.

Wishing you a happy 2022.

All the best Jan
Lori Miller said…
Thanks, Jan. Hope you and Eddie had a merry Christmas, too.

Popular posts from this blog

Dana Carpender's Podcast; Dr. Davis on YouTube; Labor Day Sales

Dana Carpender, who's written several recipe books and other works on low-carb, has a podcast and is still writing articles at carbsmart.com. She's a terrific writer and amateur researcher (otherwise known as reading , as Jimmy Dore jokes ). I use her book 500 Low-Carb Recipes all the time and I'm looking forward to hearing more from her. I've embedded her podcast on my blog (click on the three lines at the top right if you don't see it, or go to Spotify or other podcast source if you're getting this by email). Carbsmart.com doesn't seem to have a blog feed, so if you want to see the latest posts there, you can sign up for notifications at their site. Dr. Davis has been putting a lot more videos on YouTube, so I've added his channel to the lineup. Click on the three lines on my blog if you don't see it, or go to his channel here .  * * * * * Primal Kitchen is having a Labor Day sale-- 20% off everything. They sell high quality collagen powder, con...

Fermented bread and butter pickle recipe ft. L. Plantarum

After Dr. Davis said the other night that  L. plantarum  may reduce some of the effects of the herbicide glyphosate (which is everywhere), I'm re-running my recipe for fermented bread and butter pickles. Pickling cucumbers naturally have  L. plantarum  bacteria on them, and fermenting them with some brown sugar multiplies these bacteria. (Just don't use chlorinated water to wash them.) And if you're growing your own cucumbers, avoid spraying the fruits with  Bacillus thuringiensis , or Bt (leaves and vines are OK). It's unclear what effect a big dose of Bt would have on humans. Another benefit of DIY pickles: no emulsifiers like polysorbate 80, which is a common ingredient in pickles. If you have GI problems, it could be from emulsifiers. These sweet-and-sour pickles are the tastiest I've ever made. There's just a little added sugar (some of which the bacteria will consume) and turmeric that gives the pickles their bright color.  Special equipment Quar...

Collagen-filled Low Carb Burritos

Low-carb, grain-free Mexican food is hard to find, but it's easy to make your own at home. This recipe has an authentic ingredient: carne de lengua, or beef tongue. Don't be put off: beef tongue is tender, delicious, and full of collagen. Look for it directly from farmers in your area. To cook it, cut it in 1" to 1-1/2" slices and pressure cook for one hour. Enjoy the delicious broth as a bonus. Ingredients 1 slice cooked beef tongue, peeled and cut into small cubes 1 egg wrap (I use these  from Egglife) 1/4 cup cooked black or pinto beans Chili pepper Oregano Garlic (powdered or minced) Cumin Guacamole (with no emulsifiers) Salsa Shredded cheddar cheese Sour cream or homemade cream cheese  with no emulsifiers  Put the egg wrap on a plate and put the beef and beans down the middle of it. Sprinkle with the herbs and spices. Wrap, turn over and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Spoon salsa over the burrito and sprinkle with cheese. Add guacamole and sour cream or homemade crea...

15% Off Starter Culture

Starter culture for the wonderful cream cheese I made is 15% off for the next two weeks (through June 18, 2025). The shop (BacillusBulgaricus.com) also offers rennet and starter for other cheeses, yogurt, kefir, kombucha, sour cream, fermented vegetables, and more. They ship to 118 countries across six continents. The coupon code is LORI_sekd3tkb at bacillusbulgaricus.com .  Photo from Pexels .

Cardio: A Waste of Valuable Dance Time

"I'd rather hold a girl in my arms than a football." -Joe DeCicco, friend and dancing fanatic Have you heard that it takes a woman 77 hours of exercise to lose a kilogram of fat? (For us Americans, that's half a pound.) That's according to a study cited by Dr. John Briffa .(1) The women who huffed and puffed three hours a week for a year ended up 4.4 pounds lighter than the sedentary women. That doesn't surprise me: my own weight loss involved a lot less exercise than what I'd been doing. I did no cardio workouts, just strength training . I had more time and energy for dancing, which is a stress reliever, helps keep me in shape, and it's a ton of fun. It's not expensive to dance (as long as you stay away from the studios). I've found excellent lessons at clubs where the teachers really care about the students getting it. Here in Denver, there are dancing clubs that are run by nonprofit organizations, where the prices are reasonable and...