Although I say it myself, my mushroom soup is rather good. It’s a fairly simple recipe which demands a certain amount of preliminary chopping and slicing but only about ten minutes actual cooking. It’s not my own invented recipe but, as with so many recipes, I have adapted it to our tastes. One of these is our liking for a good peppery soup, so I throw a good spoonful of black peppercorns into the pan. This leads to a decided clattering when it comes to blending the soup but it’s worth it for the taste. I suspect I may have overdone it in the last batch I made: very tasty but extremely peppery!! Not that I am complaining!
And now I read that one of the myths around Covid-19 is that adding lots of pepper to your food protects you from the virus. It doesn’t! Neither does garlic, and that’s another of the myths. Garlic is generally good for your health however; it just doesn’t provide protection against the dreaded lurgy. Nor, I suspect, does it actually protect you from vampires and other such mythical creatures.
I also have a very recipe for garlic soup, by the way. It’s supposed to be good for you when you have a cold but, of course, it may just be that you are so concerned about smelling of garlic that you forget about your cold. It’s not likely that you will pass the cold on to others though as the garlic aroma will keep people away from you.
In any case, isn’t it supposed to be chicken soup that is good for you when you have a cold or flu?
My grandmother used to know all the things to eat for different ailments. She also made her own cough mixtures and a kind of antiseptic ointment. Had she not been such a keen church-goer, I might have thought her a witch.
Anyway, people will clutch at straws when it comes to finding ways to protect themselves from the virus. Here’s something from an article on Covid myths:
“Falsehoods may have real adverse consequences. The Cambridge researchers found that a one-point increase on a seven-point scale of susceptibility to misinformation was correlated with a 23% (17%-28%) decrease in intention to get vaccinated and the recent surge of the Indian variant is linked to areas of low vaccine uptake. Trusted community leaders and healthcare workers have the vital task of countering claims that could be contributing to this threat.”
And I think it was on the radio news yesterday that I heard someone say that one reason for slow uptake of the vaccination in some muslim communities was the belief, or perhaps the fear, that getting vaccinated in some way or other broke their fast during Ramadan. The religious leaders need to get busy.
I was reading about a farmer who is planting trees on his farm. His neighbours think he is mad but he wants to do mixed farming, growing stuff between the rows of trees, and grazing his cattle, and deer eventually, there once the trees are established. Other environmentalists suggest that we should regard grasslands as good carbon catchers. Soil itself stores carbon apparently, which supports my opposition to the increasing trend to cover gardens with flag stones and tarmac to provide parking for cars. Protect the environment!
Meanwhile, there is discussion of what should happen to Grenfell Tower. The authorities are considering demolishing it and building something new but relatives of the victim want it to be converted into a vertical forests. 72 plants would be grown up the remains, commemorating forever the 72 who died in the fire.
Hisam Choucair, who lost six members of his family in the fire, said: “A tragedy has taken place that must never be forgotten at this location. If they take it down they will obliterate that memory and they would be putting people through another unimaginable trauma. The ashes of our loved ones are in the fabric of that building.”
A fitting memorial and environmentally good.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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