Library

Book on snowflakes at the PO, and a box of on-sale clothes, both from JC. I've been a big fan of snowflakes for years and didn't know that much about them. The stuff I call spiculae is actually called diamond dust in snowflake research. Nice. And I love the quote from Yogi Berra, "You can observe a lot just by watching." At the library, this time of year, I don't check out new releases, with their two week limit (usually run through the library books in two days) because I can't guarantee getting back to town in time and I hate paying fines, so I limit myself to main-stack books (30 days). I keep a card with a list of authors in my coat pocket, Waited in line and paid my taxes, mailed my electric bill, then caught up on sports and chatted with the staff at the pub. The Super Bowl coming up, so that was all the news, ad rates are up to around 5 million for 30 seconds. They had some players from other teams on Sports Center, ESPN, and the closed captioning (they never have the sound on) was not decipherable. Talked with Loren about a career in theater, talked with Gayle, at Kroger, about my daughters, picked up several more breakfast burritos and a jar of salsa, a back-up jug of whiskey, tobacco and papers on the way out of town. I'd left the pig's head simmering, and decided to make scrapple. Cook the pig's head in ample herbed water, with wine. Let it cool and take the meat off the bone, some fat is good. For every four cups of shredded meat and liquid add one cup of whole grain stone-ground cornmeal, cook this for at least another hour, stirring often, mold it in loaf pans. Half-inch slices, browned in butter, with maple syrup, is a great treat, with an egg and toast may be one of the finest meals ever. I picked up some dried mushrooms and some ground pork, so I could make pate, and some sweet small pickles. Be prepared. It gets quite cold again, single digits, wind, and more snow forecast, but I have a good fire going. I make a pone of cornbread, because the oven is hot. I'd cut off the ears, from the pig's head, and made a nice stir-fry with onions and peppers. Pig's ears have that gizzard texture. I love gizzards, I have to say, and hearts, it's all about texture.