How quaint

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Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

“The United States Postal Service isn’t immune to the effects of the winter storm in Mississippi. 

“In a news release, the USPS announced that operations at the post offices, including mail delivery and retail operations, will be temporarily suspended in each of the following three-digit ZIP Codes. 

“369, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 396, 397

“We apologize for any inconvenience customers may experience, but safety of both customers and employees comes first,” the release states. 

“The USPS specified that the offices in 394 and 395 will remain open.”

IT’S NOT 11 ZIP CODES!! It’s 11 three-digit groups of zip codes.

386 has 60 individual zip codes; 387 has 40; 388 has another 40. And so it goes.

AND FOR HOW LONG? What does “temporarily” mean?

AND WHO SAID WHAT WAS IN THE RELEASE? There are no names here.

I’m going to go dig up some F winter material.

F Winter | Chronologies

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The New York Public Library Book of Chronologies (1990)

This is a spectacular time waster / reference work. Scholars, I am sure, would find much to quibble with but if you’re just looking to do something while you are not complaining about environmental conditions, it’s great! Who in their right mind does not want to know when cans of soda first had pop-tops?

The New York Public Library Book of Chronologies in paperback and hard cover at Bookfinder— many under $5.

F winter | The Starry Night

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It is 8:35 and the temperature is 12* with a wind chill of 2*. So today I have two goals:

  1. Keep water flowing and the pipes from freezing. This is non-trivial, as the flow in just about every faucet is not normal.
  2. Think and talk about things not related to the weather.

From Metropolitan Seminars in Art Portfolio 3: Expressionism (1959) I give you a classic.

Vincent van Gogh, 1889

The thing says eleven

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degrees. I made a cup of tea. I set the dishwasher to run +6hr so about 3am. I’ve got a load of laundry in. Thermostat on 60*. We ‘re tucked back here with two radiant heaters dripping water.

I had to use a garden shovel to brace myself to get to the apartment.

OH!

Mississippi you’re on my mind

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Listen to Jerry Jeff’s version.

I think I see a wagon rutted road
With the weeds growing tall between the tracks
And along one side runs a rusty barbed wire fence
And beyond it sits an old tar paper shack

Mississippi, you’re on my mind
Mississippi, you’re on my mind
Ohh, Mississippi you’re on my mind

I think I hear a noisy old John Deere
In a field specked with dirty cotton lint
And below that field runs a little country stream
Down there you’ll find the cool green leaves of mint

Oh, Mississippi you’re on my mind
Oh, Mississippi you’re on my mind
Ohh, Mississippi you’re on my mind

I think I smell the honeysuckle vine
It’s thick sweetness like to make me sick
And the dogs, my God, ah, they’re hungry all the time
And the snakes are sleeping where the weeds are thick

Oh, Mississippi you’re on my mind
Mississippi you’re on my mind
Ohh, Mississippi you’re on my mind

I think I feel the angry oven heat
The southern sun just blazin’ in the sky
In the dusty weeds, an old fat grasshopper jumps
I wanna make it to that creek before I fry

Oh, Mississippi you’re on my mind
Mississippi you’re on my mind
Ohh, Mississippi you’re on my mind

Mississippi you’re on my mind
Oh, Mississippi you’re on my mind
Ohh, Mississippi you’re on my mind

Seems like a good time

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to remind you that RadarScope is a truly excellent weather app. A few years ago I did a series of post about gathering information on the weather. This was the first of two on RadarScope.

These search results list (in reverse order) those posts.

Recipe: Pat Boutonnet’s Rice and Artichokes

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Mr. Big Food out did himself yesterday. This was fabulous. Rice is a side to Chicken Breasts in Cream.

“Great with barbecued steak or fish and ultra-easy to put together.”—The Best of Bon Appetit (1979)

PAT BOUTONNET’S RICE AND ARTICHOKES

4 to 6 servings

¼ C (½ stick) butter
¼ C onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
10-oz package frozen artichoke hearts, unthawed
2½ C boiling chicken stock (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)
1 C uncooked long-grain rice
2 Tbsp parsley, minced
Salt, pepper, to taste

Melt butter in a 10-inch skillet, add onions and garlic, and sauté until limp. Thoroughly blend in artichoke hearts, stock, rice, parsley, and salt and pepper, cover, and simmer 25 to 30 minutes or until rice is tender.

Recipe: Chicken Breasts in Cream

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This is not the sort of cooking for which Mr. Big Food is famous. But when he wants to cook a special fancy dinner for me, he’s pretty darned good at it. It was delightful and I cannot wait for lunch to have leftovers.

Served with Pat Boutonnet’s Rice and Artichokes, and a a nice salad.

“If you are fortunate enough to be able to purchase chicken parts separately, this is a delicious dish to make.” —Lousene Rousseau Brunner, Casserole Magic (1953)

“Serve with wild rice and broccoli or asparagus hollandaise.”

CHICKEN BREASTS IN CREAM

Serves 4

4 chicken breasts, “remove bones from breasts and flatten a little with the flat side of a cleaver”
Salt, pepper, to taste
3 Tbsp butter, “sweet”
1 tsp onion, minced
Salt, pepper, to taste
Pinch thyme
½ tsp parsley, minced
1 C light cream
¼ C dry white wine
2 Tbsp buttered crumbs, “fine”

Preheat oven to 400o. Melt butter in a flameproof shallow casserole on top of stove, sauté onion lightly, add chicken, and sauté to golden brown. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, thyme, and parsley, pour cream and wine over, cover, and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is tender. Preheat broiler. Remove cover, sprinkle chicken with crumbs, and place under broiler “a moment” to brown crumbs.