More Prattle from Povey

  I am enjoying a big fat hardback 430 page book by Gay (Gaetano) Talise: "A Writer's Life" Zion doesn't care.  He wants me to scratch his his pate. I cannot do both at the same time. Guess who won!

  Saturday morning (29th October) saw me at my local Library (Fruitville Branch).   The parking lot was crowded.  I hadn't reckoned with Fruitville being a site for early voting. The rules are strict.  Partisan supporters are allowed be at voting sites, but they must be (?) yards away from the entrance to the polling place entrance. With that in mind I was not surprised to see two canopy tents in the parking lot: Red for Republicans, Blue for Democrats. I avoided the red tent and parked near the blue tent.  I had a brief conversation with the Democratic party partisans saying, (tongue in cheek) "I did not park near the red (Republican) tent for fear of infection". I am more likely to become a Buddhist monk than to become a  Republican. It's not because the Democratic Party is perfect. It is  because the modern Republican Party bares no resemblance to (say) the party of  Pres. Dwight David Eisenhower.   Trumpists, who now c...

Galega Bread from Whole Foods.    Crusty outside, lots of air holes inside.   Great smothered with soft cheese such as Humboldt Fog. Inspired by traditional Spanish Galician Bread. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galician_bread Now is the time to get your Persimmons ** Waitrose Brand    U.K. Apple Sauce made with Bramley Apples.    A little on the tart side, and all the better for that. Nice and pulpy.  Good enough I think to make a pie or cobbler. Available by mail via Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Bramley-Apple-Sauce-essential-Waitrose/dp/B01LZH17A4/ref=sr_1_3?gclid=Cj0KCQjwnvOaBhDTARIsAJf8eVMrH-tOqd5iScs2DglXyvm9jG8bA7oBjoxa4eyMArpCZW2Kb-z6VV8aAuENEALw_wcB&hvadid=589942046878&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9051831&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=11919108543447112317&hvtargid=kwd-303122414159&hydadcr=4818_13210643&keywords=bramley+apple&qid=1667068697&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjQzIiwicXNhIjoiMy4xMiIsInFzcCI6IjIuODcifQ%3D%3D...

  Granny Smith apples are the middling  best the American markets supply for baking or for pie making. They are good, but not great. My English taste buds long for the superior Bramley Apple.    Bramleys are suitably  tart. When baked, the flesh becomes delightfully fluffy. Trouble is that they are not available in the U.S.A.  I thought that I had tracked some down via Google images -  they were pricey.  Then I saw that I was about to order a painting of Bramleys! But all was not lost. I found that I could order Waitrose Bramley Apple Sauce, (regretfully having to use big bad Amazon!) Goodness gracious it is good.  A superb tartness. Not processed to an almost fluid state, but with intact bits of apple. Certainly not over-sugared. Good enough to use instead of a peeled and chopped apple in my latest  batch of  Butternut Squash, Apple and Pear Soup. It worked out wonderfully https://www.5dollardinners.com/butternut-squash-apple-...

  Carelessness in the Kitchen. You'd think that I had learned. You may remember that I cleared up a mess the other day after I'd dropped a glass bottle of Maple Syrup on my kitchen floor. There were calls for a reprise. So this his morning I was again utterly careless and knocked a French Press pot of coffee onto the kitchen floor. Hot coffee on my left leg.  Coffee and grounds all over the floor. The mess was bad.  Even worse was the thought that I'd be denied my morning cups of Joe. And yet  the French Press itself was undamaged! Despite my carelessness/ clumsiness all was not lost. The clean up was easy.  The newly made coffee was great. Oh dearie, dearie me.

  Zion and I are part of a a circle of acquaintances who run into each other most mornings at Bayfront Park in Sarasota. As it happens we have two things in common.  I. We are proud Democrats. 2. We each have a "greatest dog in the world":- Chris, Max, Dewey, and Zion. Dewey's Dad and Mum will be moving house tomorrow.  They are not leaving SRQ, but they will be farther away from Bayfront. Daily visits will be difficult. Any excuse for an au revoir party. We gathered in the parking lot and had a tail-gate party, with a Box O' Joe and some mini-Muffins.   Older people going wild! OTHER EARTH SHATTERING EVENTS TODAY FOR THIS OLD FOGEY   First.    I had my Moderna booster shot (at long last). There was no long line at my local Publix Pharmacy.   I was in and out within 15 minutes.  The Pharmacist was a joy and delight.  Her bet is that most of us (in the prosperous world)  will need and receive an annual Covid vaccinatio...

  I'd rather vote in person on November 8th.  There is something heartening about standing in line at the Polling station with other voters where  despite our political differences we are united in our commitment to what we call the democratic process BUT    Our Sarasota County (FL) ballot is extremely complicated. We are to vote in more than seventeen elected offices; and in ten or so state, county, and city "referenda"  Using my brains, (and a Sarasota County Democratic party "cheat sheet")  it took me over fifteen minutes to complete the ballot form. I'd rather do this in the quietness of my home than in a cramped voting booth. Florida ballots are tallied electronically.  To vote we fill in ovals on the ballot sheet  (with a black or blue ball point pen).  The ovals are read and tallied by Computer) At the very least we MUST vote out our cruel and meanspirited Governor Ron DeSantis; and our lazy U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.