For those of you who have not yet shopped but intend to, I might recommend storing up on the basics, but try to plan at least a week’s worth of meals using fresh vegetables and fresh produce and perishable items. They are very plentiful right now because everyone is focusing on dried goods and frozen and canned foods. Obviously, you should get those, too, but I would try to get as much fresh food as possible. If you eat nothing but frozen or prepared foods, you are going to get bored quick, and there are going to be supply chain interruptions and the like. I mean, this is a global pandemic, and a lot of our food comes from outside the United States.
Also, vegetables like butternut squash, spaghetti squash, potatoes, onions, beets, etc., all have very long shelf lives. There’s a reason lots of old houses have root cellars still. I have butternut squash that I grew this summer that has just been sitting on a table for six months that is still in perfect condition. On the rare occasions I buy potatoes, I store them in a potato bin in the basement and they last months. Same with onions.
I would also recommend buying soup stock, and if you are a meat eater, freezing your beef and poultry bones to make your own stock. Whenever I use any of the trinity in a meal, I save the onion skins, carrot ends, and celery leaves and freeze them in a silicon bag for later use in stock. I call it the “Tammy bag” because Tammy was the one who got me started on doing this.
One other thing- an entertaining thing for you and the kids, if you have property and have always wanted to grow vegetables, is to pick up some seed starter kits and some lights (and you don’t even need lights if you have window space), some seed kits, and try to grow some starter plants for the rapidly approaching spring.
lamh36
Unlike many folks, I’ll be at work the entire time of this pandemic…the joys of working in the lab…so it’s weird trying to stock up when I still won’t really be in the house anymore than usual.
Also too, single with no pets, so stocking up for 2 weeks actually last me almost a month at least. So stocking up for a month means I’m stocked for months…LOL
Jim, Foolish Literalist
my grocery store was even sold out of beets and leeks (I like to make salads of the former and was gonna use the latter in a soup). Frozen vegetables were pretty much down to various forms of cauliflower, a healthy supply of mashed cauliflower, which in my experience do come out pretty gross and soupy even with the directions carefully followed
Jess
I did my usual shopping at Hannaford’s yesterday, and they had NO fresh produce–not even onions. I’m not sure if everyone bought it all, or if they removed it b/c they thought it was a risk…? I had to resort to frozen veggies for my weekly soup pot. It was amusing to see what the panic shoppers were hoarding: Campbells soup, frozen pizzas and mainstream frozen meals, regular bread (like Wonderbread), spaghetti sauce. All the organic stuff was still well stocked, including Evol and Amy’s frozen meals, and Wormtown Be Hoppy, so I was mostly fine, except for the lack of fresh veggies.
Jeffro
High calorie canned goods
– Chunky soup
– canned beans
– Chef Boyardee
– canned chili
– Progresso soup
– Peanut butter
Jeffro
@Jess: most Campbell’s soups are too low cal to be worth it
mrmoshpotato
Gotta check my carrots and celery. It’s pot roast time.
bbleh
All sensible suggestions — hey, do ’em anyway, pandemic or no! Fresh ingredients are good for you!
Still, nothing says “first-world economy with high-quality leadership” like a return to subsistence agriculture ..
(And one hopes that the panic phase will be past soon, and we’ll see a more normal — if still reduced — situation at grocery stores.)
narya
I’ve been hearing reports from folks both here and on the east coast that things like onions & garlic are just gone–along w/ frozen veggies. And bananas, oddly enough. But if you find the frozen ones, stock up on those, too. If the mashed cauliflower is soupy . . . maybe make soup? I’d add some beans and squash and spinach (I currently have an abundance of the first and last, and a fair amount of the second). I am very fortunate–I have plenty of nearly everything except garlic. My biggest problem? My oven died three weeks ago, which has prompted me to actually plan/contract for the entire kitchen renovation. Which will take who knows how long, now. No baked goods for me!
I will also note that I woke up this AM soaked in sweat–and no fever. Here’s hoping it stays gone . . . Throat is much less scratchy than yesterday, coughing is mostly when I wake up (i.e., have been horizontal for awhile). I’m only uncrossing my fingers long enough to type. And I”m still going to mask-and-glove it when I go to work tomorrow long enough to pick up a laptop & monitor (and the remains of my tea stash; I’m nearly out).
Half of the floor in our (non-patient-facing) building is wiped out with one thing or another; one team member has Influenza A, my boss has strep. Who know it would be a relief to get those diagnoses. I’m still mildly worried about strep (and every other damn thing) but will get it swabbed if it doesn’t completely go away.
Be safe, everyone; though I’m an introvert at heart, I do need some interaction, and you folks are my community these days.
mrmoshpotato
How well do carrots and celery freeze? I’m thinking not at all on the celery.
narya
@mrmoshpotato: You can freeze nearly anything if you cook it first. You could keep the veggies separate and cook each, or just cook batches of whatever your version of a trinity is.
ChrisS
@mrmoshpotato:
Well enough to make stock or cook with. Not to eat raw.
The Dangerman
Given my appetite (as in, lack thereof), I had better be dropping pounds like crazy; I had my mouth wired shut for … was it 8 weeks? 10? I forget … it was back in 1984 … and my appetite was similar during that time. I dropped bigtime (after a while, everything blended and strained becomes fairly fucking unappetizing)…
…then again, there are those occasional choices made that I’m trying to prevent (i.e. milkshake the other night, fuck it, make it a large, you don’t get to experience an apocalypse THAT often).
I can’t believe the Usual Suspects (FOX, Nunes, et al) are suggesting people go out to restaurants at the same time that Fauci (an apparent straight shooter) is saying just the opposite. I get it. The economy is going to fucking crater, the only question is how deep the hole, and that’s bad for Trump’s re-election but, at some point, you gotta do and say what is right.
NotMax
Cannot conceive becoming bored of eating anything I have chosen to prepare.
PsiFighter37
@narya: If I did that, I’d work from home. Why take the risk if you might be exhibiting any kinds of symptoms of sickness?
Cckids
@lamh36: My job’s not as critical, but as a grocery store cashier I feel I’m on the front lines ? Here in Seattle, every time we think people just canNOT keep up the panic buying, it begins again. The full-time people at the store are run ragged. So, while everyone is (a bit smugly) congratulating themselves on their distancing, spare the rest of us a thought.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Jeffro:
High in sodium though. Not on the approved heart-friendly diet.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
narya
@PsiFighter37: Because I don’t have what I need to work from home–no laptop w/ VPN access (desktop at work, Mac at home), and ALL of the work is on share drives. I’m doing everything I can to protect IT guys: suggested they wipe down my monitor, desk, and door handle before disconnecting the monitor, offering to enable them to leave it by the door w/o interacting w/ me, masking & gloving, etc. But we’re all working from home for at least two weeks, probably more.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Cckids: That panic buying is insane too. It’s defeating the whole point of distancing.
Catherine D.
I have an Aerogarden that I set up 6 or 7 weeks ago. One side is herbs (the Genovese basil is insane), and I have jalapeńos on the other, which are growing well.
My kind of gardening – not in heat and sun ?
Nicole
My brothers and I were all planning to go visit my 68-year-old stepmom this coming weekend with our assorted kids and I just sent out a preliminary email to one of them that it’s probably a bad idea.
That said, one of us HAS to go see her because she has been ill (extremely low red blood cell count) and because English is not her first language, she hasn’t been understanding much of what the doctors have been telling her so none of us know what’s going on with her health. She has an EKG scheduled for a week from tomorrow, and one of us needs to go to hear the results, and do the paperwork so we can be sent her medical records so we can understand, and then explain to her what the doctors are telling her. I’m the most convenient one, schedule-wise, but I live in NYC and would have to get there via Amtrak.
And I’m not sure how amenable the other brother will be to the suggestion that he should can his trip to visit entirely.
Adam L Silverman
@narya: The produce aisles in the grocery I go to looks like a horde of Hotentots came through. Plenty of frozen and canned stuff, but the fresh stuff, especially bananas and green vegetables are gone. Essentially everything that comes in early in the AM that’s fresh is gone by the late afternoon/early evening.
NoraLenderbee
@mrmoshpotato: They freeze well, but you won’t want to eat them raw.
You can chop up celery, freeze it on a cookie sheet (so the pieces don’t freeze into one big icy chunk), and then move it to a plastic bag. When you need some for a recipe, just pull out as much as you need and leave the rest in the freezer. This also works well for onions and peppers, and it’s a good way to handle a surplus.
Adam L Silverman
@narya: Also, feel better!
oldgold
“MILAN (Reuters) – Italy recorded 368 new deaths from the COVID-19 outbreak on Sunday as the total rose to 1,809 from 1,441 a day earlier, the country’s civil protection authority said on Sunday.”
What the hell is going on in Italy?
Italy’s population is roughly 60 million. Ours is approximately 330 million or 5.5 times Italy’s. If our experience is similar to Italy’s, we could suffer over 2000 deaths a day [368×5.5=2024] in the near future.
We need to take more stringent action than voluntary social distancing – now.
Jess
@Jeffro: Which is one of the many reasons why I stick with home made…
narya
@Adam L Silverman: Thanks! My fingers are crossed SO HARD that I will stay on the upward swing here.
Adam L Silverman
@The Dangerman:
Roger Moore
I feel reasonably good about my preparations. In addition to my actual emergency food (a 1 month supply of freeze dried stuff sold for emergencies) I have been gradually stocking up on generally shelf-stable stuff for the past month. Yesterday, I bought more than usual at the farmers market, so I have perhaps 2 weeks worth of fresh produce- basically about as much as I think will keep in my fridge.
oldgold
Oops, (283×5.5=1556.5).
Adam L Silverman
@Catherine D.:
And it gets violent if you don’t have the weekly vig ready on time!
Adam L Silverman
@oldgold: That’s the problem we have right now. We are possibly about 7 to 10 days behind where Italy is now, but we’ve done such little testing compared to Italy that there is no way to know for such. It could be much, much worse. And we have fewer hospital beds per 1,000 people than Italy does. And let’s be honest, Americans have become terrible at following directions.
Adam L Silverman
@narya: We’re keeping good thoughts.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
So it’s faulty basil?
;)
Roger Moore
@mrmoshpotato:
Freezing isn’t good for them structurally, but their flavor stays good. So they’re going to be too mushy to be good for eating by themselves but just fine for use in soups and stocks, where you’d be boiling them until they’re mushy anyway.
Jess
I did notice that all the Goya canned stuff seemed intact. Bought beans for my soup, along with fresh spinach, and the last container of carrot/celery sticks. Fortunately, already had canned tomatoes and chicken stock at home, along with a case of 3-buck Chuck. Local bakery bread, organic coffee and dark chocolate, beer, and dog food, and we’re all set at Chez Jess.
MagdaInBlack
@Cckids:
My job is not critical at all, but one cannot run a body shop from home. So we will be there, meeting customers, delivery folk, ins adjusters, and my boss, who was out all last week with a respiratory virus and was (im sure) pressured to come back because he came in Wednesday sick as hell and we sent him home. Ya.?
Also, people staying home = less traffic = fewer accidents ( yes a good thing) = less work = layoffs.
Ripple ripple…
zhena gogolia
@Cckids:
I am thinking of you constantly.
Part of what’s so hard about this is that I can’t help imagining all the pain and suffering of so many, and grocery employees are at the top of my list for compassion right now.
Another Scott
I used our InstantPot to make a batch of beans and rice yesterday, and the bread machine to make a loaf of bread, I’ve got enough material to make at least 3-4 more batches. Lots of canned goods, pasta, sauces. We’re low on milk and only have a week or so of yogurt, but we’ll do Ok.
Our supply chains are fragile, but nothing makes companies pay attention like demand. There may be a few weeks of adjustment, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we soon see things like – “Fill up your tank and get a free 84-pack of TP!!” (kinda like one could get glasses and dishes when one bought gas in the ’60s).
Hang in there, everyone. Wash your hands!!
Cheers,
Scott.
The Dangerman
@NotMax:
Oh, well done, but we might have to Cleese and Desist on the puns.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: But has it put up the moose yet?
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: No. Completely wrong cultural reference.
Adam L Silverman
@Jess: You really expect the MAGA chuckleheads to buy Hispanic/LatinX brands of food? That’s not America First!//
mrmoshpotato
@Roger Moore: Thought so – cell walls, water…
JaneE
I was too lazy to go multiple places at Christmas, so I bought a sack of russets at Costco. I still have about 8 or 9 meal sized portions of mashed potato in the freezer, just waiting to be thawed and buttered.
We can get 3 or 4 meals out of one nice cauliflower or a large broccoli crown, but keeping enough fresh fruit in the house for 2 weeks is a problem. We do have a nice little market which can’t get too crowded because there are less than 2 dozen parking places for the whole mall. They are always full, which sort of self regulates the number of customers at any given time.
The Dangerman
@Jess:
Shopping patterns are whacked; I was in Walmart yesterday and crackers of basically all varieties were mostly gone…
…except the Ritz rounds. Full shelves. The boxes might as well have said “causes severe gastrointestinal distress” for as much as they were moving. Maybe I hit that part of the store just after it was restocked, no idea.
Adam L Silverman
@oldgold:
Sab
@lamh36: Thinking about you fondly. Weird. Only online, but I know you are out there.
narya
@Adam L Silverman: Those first two divides (family member catching it/worst yet to come) are just . . . staggering. But it fits entirely too well with people who do not understand that “facts” and “science” and “reality” don’t care whether you agree or think it’s a hoax. Even with those fact-denying folks: doesn’t the fact that the NBA, NHL, NCAA, MLB, IndyCar, and F1 have ALL cancelled events/parts of the season sink in? Those are all profit-making ventures; they are not going to willingly cancel events w/o good reason.
PaulWartenberg
If you want to start gardening, check if your local library is running a “Seed Checkout” program, where they have seeds you can take home to start your own gardening (also the books in the 635 Dewey range will help teach you how).
Kent
Seriously guys? We are all going to be sitting on our butts for a month and you are looking for HIGH calorie foods? We aren’t at the “Donner Party” stage of this crisis just yet. My biggest problem sitting home all day is to not snack.
Adam L Silverman
@JaneE: Again:
Kirk Spencer
@oldgold: Should, won’t happen.
As Adam says we’re going to see ugly numbers here once testing ramps up.
I’m still guessing a floor of over 300,000 deaths, and if we continue to be stupid the death toll will be millions. Low, single digit millions, but millions.
If we see those deaths, put a fork in the GOP. Sadly (Yes I mean it) part of that will be the reduction in size of their base due to deaths. But more significant will be the blatantly obvious track record of the party trying to stop it and the party telling everyone there’s nothing to see here just go shopping.
Beyond that, Adam’s right. We have no idea what the US is going to look like come May. We just know it’s not going to look like today.
Benw
Report from my local Whole Foods last night. I had the same plan John suggests, a bit of extra dry goods and load up on some fresh stuff for the week like kale, carrots, tomatoes. But the produce section, pasta, paper goods, and eggs/dairy almost completely wiped out. With a bit of creativity, I got most of my usual stuff for about a weeks’ supply but only by taking the last or second to last item off the shelf. A nice lady and I split the literal last bunch of bananas on the rack. I confess to mild hoarding of coffee and filters…
Friends in Brooklyn report that all the local bodegas and marts are completely empty so I grabbed a couple of the last ground turkey patties for them for my wife to bring in next trip to the city. She may have to take some TP in too since we’re in good shape.
It’s wild.
Sab
@Adam L Silverman: Jerk.//
narya
@JaneE: Roast the fruit, then freeze it, or IQF it (clean/dry/spread out & freeze, then package). Won’t work for citrus, but you could wash/grate peels, then squeeze/freeze the juice and peels.
JMG
We have enough chicken stock for quite a few meals. Lots of onions, carrots, potatoes. We’ll see how the fresh meat is at the supermarket tomorrow morning. Tonight’s it’s the chicken pie we bought at the bakery yesterday. A dairy shortage would be a real bummer. Alice basically has yogurt for breakfast and cottage with chives for lunch every day.
Adam L Silverman
@narya: The PGA cancelled and those guys, unlike basketball, baseball, hockey, rugby, soccer, aren’t in either close contact with each other while competing, competing in a confined space with lots of people, and all handling the same ball.
Rupert Murdoch’s and Roger Ailes’ decades long project to make sure that nothing is true, so anything and everything is possible is going to get a lot of people killed.
PsiFighter37
I just ordered some meat from an online website that is pretty good at sourcing beef (and other meats) from the origin. Lots of things already sold out. Grabbed what I could, but what I really wanted (American Wagyu ground beef) was long gone, as was the majority of other offerings.
NotMax
@Kent
Dear Instant Pot,
Any recipes for long pig?
Asking for a friend.
//
Adam L Silverman
@Kent:
Party of 6 your table for four is ready!
Kent
Off to the East Vancouver (WA) Costco right now to fill up my wife’s car with gas. Will report back what they have.
Adam L Silverman
@Kirk Spencer: Actually we’re going to see ugly numbers in deaths and hospitalizations. The testing regimen is important to have data, but functionally pointless at this point. We can’t ever catch up using testing. And widespread testing of just those who doctors think might have COVID-19 is still weeks away. Let alone testing everyone like they’ve been doing in South Korea.
Kirk Spencer
@narya: re sports, nope.
So I got to hear /all/ the reasoning when the Houston Rodeo was ended early, well before the big concerts and events were held.
It’s the media’s fault, raising panic so they can sell more.
It’s the Democrat’s fault, raising panic to try and toss Trump.
It’s idiots/Democrats’ fault just overreacting to a mild flu – look, way fewer deaths than last year’s flu after all.
Adam L Silverman
@Sab: I warned you all. It is not my fault if you wind up sleeping with the fishes…//
Kelly
Norwegian University to students abroad
”
In line with the advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I, as NTNU’s Rector, strongly recommend that all NTNU students who are outside Norway return home.
This applies especially if you are staying in a country with poorly developed health services. This also applies for countries with poorly developed collective infrastructure, for example the USA, where it can be difficult to get transport to the airport if you don’t have a car. The same applies if you don’t have health insurance. ”
and with that I’m going for a nice walk outside
https://www.ntnu.edu/corona/students-abroad
Libby’s Person
I hope some anthropology student is out there collecting data on what products people are panic buying and which they’re leaving on the shelves. What I’m seeing suggests that there’s some interesting and surprising patterns!
narya
@Adam L Silverman: I’m waiting to see if the 500 gets cancelled. I have tickets, but am not excited about sitting in a crowd that size, even at the end of May. They didn’t run a couple of years during WW2, so there’s precedent. I doubt they will do it right now, but in a month? When the bodies are piling up?
Sab
@Jeffro: Couldn’t buy potatoes. But we knew that last spring when farmers couldn’t plant in time. Harvesting schedules are set in stone ( or by contract) regardless of what Mother Nature wants. So potatoes planted three weeks early get harvested on time. So they are tiny.
Covid 19 will be blamed, but in this case climate warming is the culprit
trollhattan
@narya:
Turned out a bunch of F1 team members tested positive. Oops!
Nicole
Horse racing has still been going on, just without any live attendees at the tracks.
Of course, that’s not much of a difference from horse racing before Covid 19.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Actually, first thing I think of when I see the name Genovese is Kitty.
But it would have been declass× to employ that for purposes of pun.
Martin
My recommendation:
If you are a bit overweight, this might not be a terrible time to reduce your calorie intake. Dieting is hard, mostly because you don’t have good reasons to not eat that thing. Welcome to having a great incentive for saving part of that meal for tomorrow.
Just about everyone can get by with a 800 calorie diet for weeks on end – especially if being homebound is restricting your activity. I woke up this morning and wondered why I hadn’t already started this. For me, it’s about imagining future sacrifices – a situation when we’re low enough on food that I have to save it for my kids and we can’t go to the store or there’s nothing there. I don’t expect that state will happen, but I can imagine it. I’ll throw in an earthquake on top of everything else or some other wildly unlikely bullshit. But once I can visualize that state, that’s where I go when I am tempted to break the diet. It usually works. There are days it doesn’t. That’s fine.
I’ve probably got enough calorie reserves on my frame for a 3 month hibernation. This is an opportunity.
Adam L Silverman
@narya: They’re not NASCAR, so I expect some responsible decision making.
Kirk Spencer
@Adam L Silverman: Agreed, but based on what I’m hearing in Houston Texas it’ll be the testing that convinces sooner than the deaths.
Remember, I’m the guy a few days ago who ran the common numbers and came up with millions of deaths in the US.
40% infected. 5% of those are on ventilation and the only thing that saves them is sufficient hospital beds with ventilators, which means anything over about 50,000 across the US is fatal. But 5% of 40% is 2%, and 2% of 330 million is 6.6 million.
And that’s not the worst case. (60-70% is the worst.)
narya
@Kirk Spencer: Dang. I’m sorry you had to go through that conversation.
NotMax
@NotMax
Sigh. declassé
@narya
While hardly a major imposition, all the late night shows have gone on hiatus. If they haven’t already, expect SNL to follow suit.
Martin
@narya: They’ll cancel. One of the F1 teams pulled out before the sport cancelled because they had engineers test positive. There were questions about other races due to 14 day quarantines needed for anyone who’d travelled to Italy (2 teams are based there, one driver lives there).
The 500 is a domestic event, but the drivers and engineers aren’t necessarily. There will be too many teams that just can’t pull their car together or get their driver in the country.
Adam L Silverman
HumboldtBlue
Mayor of New Orleans to hold press conference at 3pm CST most likely to add more restrictions. Officials not happy people took to the streets after being asked not to and Police came in and cleared the streets.
Martin
@Adam L Silverman: Ouch.
The Dangerman
@PsiFighter37:
That is exceptional stuff; I’ve never had Kobe beef, but Wagyu has to be at least close.
Adam L Silverman
narya
@trollhattan: Anyone other than Haas and McLaren?
Adam L Silverman
@Kirk Spencer: I’m tracking. Unfortunately the testing results are going to be the lagging indicator, not the driving one.
mrmoshpotato
Wow. Enjoy.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: When pedanticism fails.
Another Scott
@NotMax:
CloveGarden – Long Pig
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
germy
HumboldtBlue
@The Dangerman:
BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Cheryl Rofer
Our own David Anderson makes the New York Times with an op-ed on surprise medical billing.
MagdaInBlack
@Libby’s Person:
My grocery store of choice is frequented mainly by eastern european immigrants. They seem to be practical shoppers. Anything used to cook from scratch, gone. pasta, beans, whole grains, flour etc, gone. The pallets of kasha, gone. The Polish fruit and herbal teas, gone.
Also, the pastries from a Russian bakery in Chicago, cleaned out ?
Eta: also all the dry cottage cheese and farmers cheese….pierogies.
Martin
@Adam L Silverman: Benefits of being in California – we can go ravage the crops before they hit the supply chain. How y’all going to survive without pomegranates, motherfuckers!
For those of us that don’t participate in the gardening posts, I’ll remind that dandelions are edible, and pretty tasty. You can eat the entire plant including the roots. Who gets the last laugh now! That’s right, while you were carefully tending to those lovely, poisonous hydrangeas, I did jack shit and now have a months supply of dandelion salads.
narya
@Martin: And the thing is, if they cancelled (for now) and rescheduled if/when things are under control (for unspecified values of “under control,” but certainly when large crowds aren’t a risk the way they are now), they could possibly get through to folks who are in denial. It’s an opportunity to use the IndyCar platform to actually save lives. Most folks don’t follow IndyCar, but everyone at least knows about the 500, so it would get attention.
I also have tickets to Elkhart Lake, which I love and which doesn’t involve anyone else sweating on me, and that’s at the end of June, but . . . we’ll see.
germy
Kristine
@Adam L Silverman: I love cauliflower. Roasted. Mashed with butter and parm reg. It adds body to soups when zapped with the stick blender.
I’ll happily accept everyone else’s cauli. I have a freezer chest in the basement.
HumboldtBlue
@Cheryl Rofer:
That’s awesome, and helpful.
lamh36
@HumboldtBlue:
Folks like to complaing bout NOLA Mayor, but when she expect folks to be consider and act like adults, folks show they azzes…why da fuq folks out partying on Bourbon Street and giving two shits bout a St Patrick’s Day parade in light of the dang Coronovirus pandemic.
SMH…when the Mayor announces harder restrictions, some folks will deserve what they get…smh
Jeffro
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Most of the things I mentioned above come in low (or at least lower-) sodium versions. in fact, all of them do.
germy
@Martin: dandelions are a good source of iron.
They are not native to North America, they were brought over by European settlers, who used them for food, medicine and wine.
Gvg
@PaulWartenberg: the libraries are closed or closing.
walmart has seeds online ordering. One thing I noticed is that Burpee has high prices in its own catalog, but the same seeds are cheap when found at Home Depot or Walmart.
you might check with neighbors on Nextdoor though for local exchange seeds. Several people on my Nextdoor have volunteered to run errands for those who need to stay home the most.
Sab
@Martin: Rose colored glasses. You go guy.
Not saying I disagree.
ixnay
@JMG: cows and other dairy gotta be milked. Kefir and kefir cheese are pretty good substitutes for yogurt, if you can get ahold of kefir grains.
Jeffro
@oldgold: Yup. I am hoping we can keep the deaths down to five figures here.
zhena gogolia
@Martin:
I have lost 9 pounds in the last week or so.
lamh36
It’s so weird seeing the tv guide with the names of the sport games supposed to be being played and then turning to the channel and seeing they’re showing re-broadcast from 2017…even knowing this was happening, it’s still weird.
Martin
@germy: Wait, I can blame the french for my shitty lawn? How have I missed this my entire life?
Sab
@Kristine: I hope my husband eats it all. He loves it. I think it is substandard anemic broccolli.
PsiFighter37
@The Dangerman: Japanese Wagyu is better to eat as a steak, but American-raised Wagyu makes for better ground beef IMO. I was looking for it for making Instant Pot chili, but oh well. I ordered pre-made beef patties and will stick with eating burgers.
Jess
@The Dangerman: Maybe they’re made in China? ;-)
Jeffro
@Kent: I’m not sitting on my butt for a month. I’ve gone hiking with my family or worked out every day this week already. Will probably start up kayaking soon too since it’s kinda sorta getting warmer.
Quarantine & social distancing =/= ‘sit on your butt’. That’s just your inner slacker talking (mine talks quite loudly, fwiw =)
lamh36
Had to share this pic from a local Cincinnati station that was posted in a lab tech group I’m a member of.
Sigh…I guess the Nurses and Doctors are doing their own testing huh…SMH.
Laboratory Med Tech get no respect…smh
I mean I get it they are front and center but…still. Oh and BTW, I’m pretty sure this is a picture of a lab tech…but…
Anyway, we in the lab or used to this by now…LOL
https://twitter.com/psddluva4evah/status/1239250392229314560
Martin
@zhena gogolia: Ok, that’s a bit too fast for most people. But kudos nevertheless. Losing weight when you need to sure does feel good.
HumboldtBlue
@lamh36:
Agreed.
Sandia Blanca
@NotMax: LOL!
Jeffro
@NotMax:
@Adam L Silverman:
Back to back, these just made my afternoon…gracias! =)
lamh36
Adam Schiff responding to Chump tweeting bout pardoning Flynn
Jay
germy
Jeffro
You too (w/ the ‘reserves’)? =)
As long as we are social-distancing and what not, I am getting more exercise and reading more good books. I am just about positive that will continue no matter when this crisis ends…
lamh36
Thread on COVID-19 preparations from Andy Slavitt Former Medicare, Medicaid & ACA head for Obama.
One interesting tweet in the thread:
WhatsMyNym
@oldgold: The median age in Italy is 45.5 (CIA World Factbook 2018), the USA is 38.1. The Italian government has referenced their concern about the older population as a reason for shutdowns. Canada is 42.2, so maybe not a good option if in a high risk group.
Martin
@narya: Heard it’s pretty widespread at Ferrari. Not sure if drivers, though.
The Dangerman
@lamh36:
I’ve been hitting the Dodgers channel bigtime and they’ve been doing a lot of “Best of…”. Some recent, some further back. Not sure what might have been previously scheduled, but it’s springtime and generally that means, well, spring training, all day, everyday.
Anyway, and this may only apply to LA people, but there is something magical about listening to Vin Scully call a game. Easily the most beloved sports figure in LA and no one else is remotely close (Chick Hearn might have been at one time … maybe … Kobe? get outta here).
Adam L Silverman
@lamh36: Especially because there are no missing documents. What Flynn’s chucklehead loon of a new attorney was arguing is that the FBI and DOJ had not done full disclosure during discovery. The DOJ refuted this and the judge, who it is important to remember was actually ready to convict Flynn of treason in January of 2019 when he still had adequate and competent attorneys despite not being charged with treason, has already ruled against Flynn and denied his idiot attorney’s motion.
I’m pretty sure this is a Scavino driven tweet. Scavino spends a ton of time on the chan boards, gab, /k/ (a QAnon board), etc both interacting and communicating with the shitbirds on those sites and then channeling their social media posts into the President’s twitter feed.
germy
debbie
@mrmoshpotato:
There was only one small package of stew meat in the entire beef section of my store on Friday. They didn’t have carrots or potatoes, let alone anything else I would want to use for making stew. That took another two stores. Stew’s good, but a little heavy on carrots and potatoes.
Just got back from a 45-minute walk. Interesting to watch the other people walking around. One couple was walking toward the same intersection as I was. They stopped about 10 feet short and just stood there until I passed. I felt like tossing off something smart-ass, like “Thanks for protecting me from you,” but I decided to let people deal with this as they think they need to.
One thing, though, I hope there’s a lot of self-reflection when this is done and that some people will realize and be ashamed of themselves for their behavior and attitude toward others.
JPL
Cheryl, ha.. I had read it earlier and didn’t put two and two together that it was our David. He’ll always be Mayhew to me.
lamh36
Perfect video clip to show why social distancing is such a big part of controlling this pandemic!
Courtesy of that old tv show Scrubs! Remember that show!.
Notice the green infection being sprea…
https://twitter.com/naima/status/1239103553395994625
lamh36
FYI:
Here’s the NAACP link: https://www.naacp.org/emergency-coronavirus-tele-town-hall/
And yes, the same time as the debate
germy
mrmoshpotato
@debbie:
Haha
Another Scott
VA Gov. Northam had a press conference. Effectively bans events with more than 100 people (more than 50 people in the Peninsula). Encourages people to stay home.
Cheers,
Scott.
HumboldtBlue
As has been pointed out more than one thread, de Blasio making one dumbass decision after another.
The quotes from the 20-somethings will make you fume.
mrmoshpotato
@germy: That’s my gov – being a responsible jerk to the Trump trash!
I wonder what Governor Hedgefund (Rauner) would be doing now – probably orgasming over working class people being hurt the most by this pandemic.
WereBear
@germy: We’re in NY, got an offer for absentee ballot to fill out for the primary. We’re going for it: it’s smart and we want to support that.
Ksmiami
@Martin: dandelion greens sautéed with garlic, olive oil, lemon and sea salt mmmm
germy
Brachiator
@Gvg:
the libraries are closed or closing
Yeah. I see, for example, in the San Gabriel California area;
Wild stuff.
LuciaMia
Sell more what?
germy
@WereBear: I’ve been pleased with Cuomo’s response to all of this. My wife doesn’t like him, but she says she’s impressed with him lately. Sometimes emergencies bring out the best in people.
lamh36
Cheryl Rofer
L85NJGT
Atlas 3 – Toluca 2
Fans in attendance 0
mrmoshpotato
@HumboldtBlue: New sport for these times – crotchpunting.
PsiFighter37
@HumboldtBlue: I honestly believe de Blasio doesn’t give a shit about the basics of governance. All he cared about was being a thought leader for progressives, without actually realizing that the nuts and bolts of being a mayor is about making sure the trash is picked up, etc.
Sure Lurkalot
@zhena gogolia: That’s a lot in such a short time. I’ve lost a couple myself…I’m thin already. I have been walking a lot but I have exercised daily for decades. It’s all anxiety.
NotMax
@germy
Guaranteed made only from free range snakes.
:)
mrmoshpotato
@LuciaMia: Sell more of Chuck Todd’s dumb ass!
(Don’t ask what that means. I just wanted to call Upchuck Todd a dumbass.)
HumboldtBlue
I need a distraction and already went for a walk, plus it’s raining and cold.
Time for some Medieval Total War.
WereBear
@germy: Likewise. I voted for him, but wasn’t thrilled about it.
But DAYUM I couldn’t ask for a better guy in this crisis; his daily news conferences are keeping me sane. And funny: I didn’t know the guy had it in him.
So, NY. I do love NY.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
(blockquote>I have lost 9 pounds
(glances down at self) Found ’em!
:)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Adam L Silverman: I actually like cauliflower: roasted, steamed, in stir-fry, the riced stuff is a good quick way to get some cruciferous in your system. But I have never been able to pull off the mashed potato substitute, either myself or the frozen processed stuff.
Someone tried to sell me on “mac’n’cheese” style cauliflower. Maybe a better cook could pull it off, but you’re better off steaming it and dumping a bunch of parmesan on it, IMHO
ETA: also, in spite of the diet I’m supposed to be on, I did break down and buy a bag of double-dark chocolate Milanos. Shopping while hungry, and stressed.
Martin
Credit where due. Dewine closing all bars and restaurants tonight. Very proactive.
JPL
@Cheryl Rofer: I’m beginning to like this guy.
mrmoshpotato
@Cheryl Rofer: Jeebus H.
Good to see our blogmaster, the King of You, and Idaskank haven’t see any cases.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Are the snakes organic? Are they humanely oiled?
mrmoshpotato
@HumboldtBlue: “I need a distraction….time for war!”
Another Scott
David Atkins at WaMo – Please . Stay . Home. Like your life depends on it.:
A sensible Administration would have been saying things like this weeks ago, and directing OPM to require (instead of simply offering or recommending) telework for everyone in the federal government able to do so.
Grr… :-(
Cheers,
Scott.
Brachiator
@oldgold:
Every country will have its own challenges.
One thing about Italy, from a recent Wired article:
Also, note that northern Italy has been hit harder than other regions.
And “stringent action” is not necessarily the same thing as appropriate action.
There may be a number of effective ways to deal with this. And things like washing hands and social distance are simple to do.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
and this is actually kind of on topic: I was gonna mix some frozen spinach into the lentil-sausage soup I’m making, but the hoarders got there before I could do my sensible provisioning. They had collard greens. Should I dump ’em in?
And I will be dumping, not folding, not gently stirring, not marrying, not blending, dumping.
ziggy
@Martin: We are going to have to have a discussion about calories versus carbs! Counting calories is a dreadful way to lose weight. If you cut your calories that low, your body WILL go into a type of “starvation mode” and your metabolism will markedly decrease. Your metabolism setting determines about 70% of the calories you burn, movement is only about 30%.
Whereas if you cut carbs significantly, but keep calories at a reasonable level, you will almost assuredly lose weight, I’m a prime example as I eat a LOT of fat, but somewhat restricted carbs, yet I am not fat by any measure. I pay zero attention to calories (just ate a hunk of butter, yum).
The best things to cut out if you want to lose weight are flour, sugar and dairy. Intermittent fasting is also very helpful. The idea is to keep insulin levels as low as possible.
Sister Golden Bear
If you’re willing to buy prepared food, pizza also freezes tolerably well. I got a large deep-dish pizza that can be stretched into meals for the better part of a week. I figured it would be nice to have some comfort food down the line. Waited for it to cool and bags the sliced individually.
Sliced bread also can be frozen. I pull out a slice at time and toast it, and it’s not appreciably different that regular toasted bread.
Also stocked up on extra Chinese take-out last night, plus a large quiche from the grocery store deli, which will give me 2-3 days of food before needing dig into the other supplies.
It may be risky, but living in one of the hot zones, there’s pretty good odds I’ve already been exposed to someone who’s asymptomatic.
debbie
@germy:
Did he think he deserved more? //
zhena gogolia
@Sure Lurkalot:
I’m sure it’s anxiety. I am not aware that I am eating any less than before.
mrmoshpotato
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
No shame in sticking with the twist.
Kent
Costco report: Just now got back from the East Vancouver Costco in Washington.
Crowds were no larger than the average Sunday.
99% of what they normally carry was in stock. Even TP and paper towels. They had whole wall full and people were just taking one package a piece, following the signs on the wall. One package of Kirkland Signature TP is 30 rolls so that should be plenty for anyone.
The only thing they were sold out of was (1) all of the sanitation supplies (wipes, clorox cleanup, purel, etc.) (2) few bulk things like the 50 lb bags of rice and beans, and (3) most of the bags of frozen chicken and hamburger. Still plenty of frozen cod and salmon though.
Gotta hand it to Costco. They are a great company. They had every single checkout line manned by a team of clerks and they had a woman with a flag directing you to which one to use to maintain social distancing and keep people from lining up. Awesome. On a weekend I was out of there faster than ever with basically no lines.
Maybe we are past the hording stage, at least here in this part of the country.
germy
@Brachiator:
It’s a major tourist destination.
mrmoshpotato
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Dump from a high height for maximum splashback! Got a step ladder?
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
We don’t have a sensible administration. I am hoping for signs that they are at least stepping out of the way and letting the professionals do what they need to do.
I think that Trump will at least continue to Twitter rant that “all is well, conspiracy, conspiracy….” But I don’t know if his destructive outbursts can be contained.
Fox News may be trying to dance around their commitment to serving Trump and also offer some weak concession to reality, but I think that the foolish public that take Fox News for granted will be putting their lives at risk.
NoraLenderbee
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Collards are delicious! They are tougher than spinach and don’t soften as much, so you might want to take care to chop them small.
Jay
@WhatsMyNym:
at this point in time, most of “the numbers” are meaningless. Many are inaccurate, conditional, incomplete.
Eg, Canada has Universal Healthcare. 137,000,000 out of 330,000,000 Americans have financial distress from Medical Debt.
The Province of British Columbia for example, with a total population smaller than many major US cities, has tested well over 10X the number of people for Covid19 than the entire United States has tested.
Chyron HR
As long as the restaurants are still open, is getting takeout or having food delivered “safe” (relatively speaking)?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@mrmoshpotato: Well, I heard that the boogaloo is out of sight.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@NoraLenderbee: thanks
Sister Golden Bear
@Chyron HR: I’m still doing take out, since I don’t really cook, but…. you’re only as safe as the lowest-paid restaurant worker without sick days.
At my Chinese place, I can see the kitchen, so if there’s anyone obviously sick I’ll walk out. Likewise with the pizza place.
But neither is gonna help with people who are asymptomatic. OTOH, a lot of the vegetables, canned foods, etc. at the grocery store may have been handled by asymptomatic people (workers, other shoppers), so I’m not sure that’s inherently safer.
mrmoshpotato
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: These guys can really shake it down.
Duane
Yesterday I remembered I’m fortunate to have money to stockpile food and cleaning items. Wasn’t long ago I couldn’t have afforded to, and millions of people still can’t. That’s a terrible, fearful feeling. Time to donate to a food bank. There’s going to be a lot of need.
Jay
@Chyron HR:
YMMV. Cooked food kept hot in a sealed container should be fine, with only the normal food precautions, ( samonella, Hep B, C, etc) required.
Yutsano
@Martin:
You live in California. Saying that’s unlikely is just triggering all kinds of bad juju.
pamelabrown53
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Why not cook the collard greens separately and then add some in a bowl. Then if you like the result, dump the rest of them in the pot.
Myself, while I love raw spinach, etc. in salads, once they’re cooked they look like slimy seaweed. It’s visual and textural for me.
Jay
@pamelabrown53:
it’s a required layer in lasagne. That and the garlic asiago toast is what makes it a meal.
NotMax
@Chyron HR
Even moreso when relying on takeout (rather than it being an adjunct to focusing on sitdown service), they will seek as much repeat business as possible, so cutting corners resulting in making you ill is not in their (or your) best interest. Odds are tipped in your favor.
NotMax
@pamelabrown53
Tried to veer away from the (lower case) usual suspects in that movie list yesterday. One other since came to mind, White on Rice. Pleasingly well made quirky film
Uncle Cosmo
@Brachiator: Enoch Pratt Free Library (Baltimore City public library) closed all branches last week; Baltimore County Public Library closed for 2 weeks starting right now. (I got in yesterday & picked up a pile of SF, including a 3-volume series by Greg Bear. Mindcandy, Ho!)
piratedan
@Adam L Silverman: can attest to that, our hospitals have cancelled all elective surgeries to reduce the supplies that they know will be needed. Ramping up single bed CCU rooms to be doubles to handle the expected increase in patients with like symptoms. Been defining hallway beds as temp locations on a “just in case” basis, so if it does get that bad, we at least know who is where… While some supplies are showing up, its not as much as the staff would prefer, so rationing will continue.
I am kind of surprised that no one has reached out and tapped the resource of simply asking items to be made for re-use instead of deferring to the concept everything has to be disposable. At this point/washing and sanitizing items made for personal protection equipment (masks and gowns) make more sense considering the anticipated influx.
Also, with travel and social distancing being encouraged, its had the ripple effect of impacting blood and platelet donation, so if you can still do those and feel comfortable doing them, that is still strongly encouraged. With our youngsters essentially ignoring best practices advice, they’re still drinking and having accidents and thus showing up in other capacities…
J R in WV
I think any take out food that you get pretty hot before you eat it will be relatively safe. I like to get our takeout at least to a simmer speaking mostly of Indian food in sauces. Sometimes I just get containers of Korma and Tikka Masala sauce and use that with fresh swordfish, or stew meat that I roll in spices and saute. Swordfish Korma is pretty tasty!
We’re lucky for a relatively small city to have a good variety of ethnic food. Wish we still had the Jamacian joint… great goat curry, jerk style. And the Greek place downsized to a food truck they keep parked beside their house, but the food is the same as it ever was. Good small Thai place, good Indian place with two slightly less good competitors, good sushi place, good Syrian place. Lots of good Italian, too.
But we’re staying home for a good long while, wife is pretty immune compromised since her recovery from septic shock caused by necrotic pneumonia. She hasn’t left the house in weeks, and I’ve only been out once a week for the last 3 weeks to do stocking up.
Winston Churchitler
I recommend quantum board LED lights instead of the older purple LED tech – Spider Farmer, Mars Hydro or HLG get better results. For example, the actual wattage pulled from the wall socket by a Bestva “1000watt” LED is 285watts, a 600watt Roledro pulls 185 watts, etc. In case some meds arent available – R-DWC hydro in a net pot is the way to go if you really want to grow fast.
Amir Khalid
@Adam L Silverman:
Pedantry.
Jak
@mrmoshpotato:
Celery freezes well. Cut it up in the size you want to finally use although you can chop it finer after it is frozen. I’ve kept it frozen in freezer bags for at least 6 months. A good way to manage produce if you think it might spoil before you can use it.
Same method can be used for peppers, onions, and tomatoes.
Other vegetables may require blanching. Corn, carrots.