Interregnum, week 10

The news is full of alarming reports about new, potentially more communicable virus variants this week. Probably they've been around for a while, and we're only just noticing them because viral genetic sequencing is not getting the resources it needs.

Oh well, we have bigger problems, like when it was announced that to speed up vaccinations, the entire national reserve of vaccines would be released, except then it turned out that there was no reserve.

The local news is warning of the dangers for local hospitals if people don't stick to wearing masks. Cases are ticking up anyway, as people decided to meet each other for Christmas and the more-contagious strains are probably spreading here too. And yet Oregon is still doing better than most of the US.

Fruits and vegetables update

#16-22:

Purple raisins: The local Fred Meyer was out of the golden raisins a couple weeks ago when I needed to get more, so I got these instead. I was startled to discover how sour they tasted after being used to the golden ones. It shouldn't be startling, it's basically the same flavor difference as between green and purple grapes, but it was.

Edamame: In the SO's latest ramen experiment last week.

Green onions: In another stir-fry.

Lettuce, celery, green beans: In the pancit I got from the local Filipino barbecue cart for dinner tonight.

Ube: In a cookie from the same cart. I tried their ube flan a while back, and was disappointed that it hardly had a flavor at all. With the cookie, I can at least detect a note of something that isn't in a standard sugar cookie.

(Ube is a purple relative of the sweet potato.)

Master list here.

At this point, I've gotten through most of the fruits and vegetables that are in my typical rotation at this time of year. I have hope that I'll be vaccinated and able to make it to the farmers' market before berry season ends.