I had my second Moderna vaccine last Thursday, 4 days ago, and my arm is still not OK. I do believe it has nothing to do with the vaccine, but rather the insertion of the needle. It was very painful and the needle was in for about 8-10 seconds. It was also extremely high on my arm. I still have a 2-inch black and blue bruise there. My upper arms is tender, swollen, and very warm, especially when I get out of bed (I assume due to the lack of movement). I think the nurse who gave me the shot screwed up! I've never had anything like this before. Due to some of my health issues, I frequently have jabs and blood draws, but nothing like this has happened. I have none of the other side effects from receiving the vaccine. I will call my pcp tomorrow if things are not improved. I wish pain-free experiences for those of you still 'in-line' for the vaccine.
Non-profits are on some politicians' radar, too, mostly because they have the audacity to think they can do more good than the government can. One idea that might get done quickly is to have sundown dates on any foundations, eg, they have 10 or 20 years to spend all their money. (Of course they'll exempt some entities from this.)
I had more side effects from my second Pfizer shot than I had from the first one. My arm was very sore, and I had difficulty shaping the rolls I made on Saturday. (I'm right handed, but I opt for the shot in the right arm since I must sleep on my left side.) I had chills and aches and pains throughout the night, loss of appetite and some nausea the next day. I spent most of Sunday on the couch drifting off to sleep. I am feeling better today but will still take it easy.
My husband received the Moderna, and his side effects after the first was nausea and tiredness but after the second, just some tiredness. He worries that not having more side effects means "it's not working." However, I pointed out that the vaccines likely affect people in different ways, just as the illness does. I think that accounts more for the difference in response than which vaccine we each received.
Whatever the side effects, I will endure them rather than contracting the illness or giving it to someone else.
The truly wealthy have always had access to many ways to shield income from the taxman, that's a large part of the reason why the tax code is several billion words long. And that won't change any time soon, neither party is interested in upsetting their big donors.
When I was taking my business law course in grad school, our professor (a CPA as well as a lawyer and accounting prof) had us go look up a number of laws. One of them was one passed before 1950 (it was still on the books) that had to do with exempting certain one-time payments from taxable income.
This particular part of the tax code has only ever been used once, by Louis B. Mayer (of MGM), who reportedly made a large donation to get it included.
I'm all for finding ways to tax billionaires, I'm just concerned that it won't really work, and that they won't stop there. As I noted before, the two largest pools of wealth in this country aren't the stock holdings of the billionaires and millionaires, they're the homes we own and our retirement plans. And certain politicians are already eyeing taxing IRAs and 401-K's.
The Wall Street Journal had a story today citing a study that concluded the very wealthy have been far more successful in shielding their income from taxes than anyone thought. How? Through the tax code.
I made Creamy Mushroom Soup, a recipe I found on youtube from Chef John at Foodwishes. It uses 2 pounds of fresh mushrooms and a quart of chicken stock (or stock of your choice). Just a couple of minor changes, instead of using a whole onion I used the remains of one I had in the fridge, about 1/4. I didn't have fresh thyme so I used about 1/2 tsp of dried. It came out pretty thick, thick enough to use as a sauce (of course you thin it out as much as you want). It tastes pretty good, if you're a mushroom fan try it.
Happy Birthday, Kimbob!
Yesterday I made a roasted salmon filet, mac and cheese (from frozen) and Brussels Sprouts.
I roasted a chicken for tonight. I'm going to have it with brown rice.
Today I made the Fan rolls (or Pull-Apart rolls) again, but a sweet version. I brushed maple syrup on the rolled out dough and sprinkled on a cinnamon-sugar mix instead of savory herbs. I think they could have used quite a bit more cinnamon. I took them out of the oven after 20 minutes, and they registered 195*. Next time I will reduce the baking temperature to 325. These are a little crisp on the outside, but very good.
BakerAunt, thanks for the link. The recipe gave me the idea of using Anjou pears with my go-to muffin recipe.
OK, it was my turn to have difficulty in the kitchen. Self-imposed difficulty. I made Bev M's Canned Peach Cobbler (on this site). It calls for 1 tablespoons sugar in the topping. Whenever possible, I use half sugar and half Splenda. I put in 1/2 tablespoon sugar & forgot to put in the Splenda. Later, when I thought of the Splenda, I wasn't sure I hadn't used it. So I'm probably missing a half-tablespoon of sweetness. I was supposed to sprinkle cinnamon on top of the peach mixture. I had the cinnamon on the counter & forgot to use it. The cobbler is cooling, and I expect it to taste blah.
I had one more Bosc pear to use, so on Friday I baked Pear Cardamom Oatmeal Muffins, a recipe from Marisa Moore: https://marisamoore.com/pear-oatmeal-muffins/:
I forgot to add the cardamom, since I had combined the dry ingredients, except for the spice the night before but was waiting to grind the cardamom until that morning. I would have used half the amount of spice due to it being freshly ground. As the muffins were already mixed and in the muffin pan when I realized the omission, I settled for sprinkling Penzey’s cinnamon sugar (was either free or inexpensive on a deal) on top before baking.
I made some other changes. I used buttermilk in place of regular milk, and I reduced the brown sugar to 1/3 cup. I omitted the vanilla, as I want to taste the pears and spice (or would have had I remembered to add the spice!). I had just the single Bosc pear; I think she uses Anjou. I added 1 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder to the dry ingredients to increase the calcium. I used canola oil. I omitted the topping but had sprinkled with a bit of the King Arthur white sparkling sugar before I added that cinnamon sugar. I baked as six large muffins, so I increased the baking time to 15 minutes. These muffins are delicious, and I will bake them again—with the cardamom! I particularly like the flavor of Bosc pears with cardamom and dearly miss the Pear Crumble recipe that I can no longer bake due to its butter content.
I ate one for breakfast. I will leave two for us to have for breakfast tomorrow, and I will freeze the other three for quick future breakfasts.
Cheese, especially a strong cheese like a sharp cheddar, tends to overpower the delicate nature of fish. There are exceptions to the "don't mix fish with cheese" rule, the tuna melt is one of them. I think the tomato acts as a buffer between the tuna salad and the cheese, though.
Shellfish doesn't count as fish, which is why something like a crab alfredo or lobster mac and cheese is OK. (I'm sure there are shrimp and cheese dishes, but I don't eat shrimp.)
We had reubens tonight.
On Thursday, I baked two loaves of Len's bread (from his Semolina Rye Rolls Recipe).
I made a double batch of The Neely's Asparagus Soup (Food Network) Even a double batch doesn't make much. I put 2 quarts in the freezer & have 2 cups in the refrig.
We took our first hike in a state park in over a year late Wednesday morning We did not even have the chance last year to use our Golden Hoosier Park Pass (at least the money supported the state parks!), but ever the optimists, we bought one for 2021. We arrived home for a late lunch, and I made a frittata for myself using chopped onion and carrot sauteed in olive oil, then mixed with about 1/3 cup leftover cooked bulgur, a beaten egg, about 2 Tbs. shredded mozzarella cheese, and ½ tsp. Penzey’s Bavarian seasoning. I used my good nonstick small frying pan, and I was able to flip the frittata with a spatula in the pan.
Well, the dough for the scoring practice loaf was a high hydration (75%) no-knead formula. High hydration doughs usually don't work well for me, and that was the case again today. The loaf flattened out when I dumped it on the counter after the final rise and though I tried to reshape it into a boule it still flattened out a lot in the Dutch oven. I probably needed to do more stretch-and-folds on the dough before the final rise.
The scorings didn't hold up well in the oven, either, though the blade did a decent job of cutting.
We'll see how the loaf tastes, it was the first I've made with my new rye starter, and it seemed active enough.
Bagel dough is rising, so I should end today's baking with a win.
This loaf is about 9 inches in diameter but only about 1 1/2 inches high.
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Northern Spy is supposed to be a good cooking apple, but it may be that it softens much faster than Winesap, which is IMHO one of the best cooking apples available in this country. (There are some European varieties that I'd love to try, though.)
Cosmic Crisp ranks up there with Jonagold and Winesap, IMHO.
However, Jonagold is not an apple that keeps well, maybe Northern Spy doesn't either?
