Chef took two Rockfish filets from the freezer (see fish fumet Friday for more deets), defrosted them, dipped those guppies in some flour (he teased me by telling me he had added cumin to the flour), and did a quick fry up in the skillet. it wasn't a deep fry, just a fry in a little bit of oil. The thin coat of flour made that fish lively, and a rockin'! crisp. Spritzed with some fresh lemon and oh la la - gimme that filet o'fish!
the sides -- green kale with black eyed peas. Yes(!) greens and beans sans ham. What could be better? Ham you say? Really? Not tonight, which reminds me back to the presentation we saw earlier this week on food waste. As the author was discussing how cheap food has become, he switched slides to a photo of an poster in a grocery store window that read "Pork 99 cents/lb" and underneath that price, "Happy Passover!" Our second side dish featured mashed red skin potatos with roasted garlic and a shot of milk...our dairy binge continues. oh and of course, butter wiggled its way into that glorious velvety potato dish.
and now, onto those bees...
Chef and I enrolled in a beekeeping short course offered by the Central MD Beekeepers Association. We hustled with dinner and scampered off out of the city to a nature center (YESSS!) in the area known as "the county." Not only did we get our first dose of the season of frog calls - peepers, wood frogs, and maybe someone else - but we also got handouts and cookies! Exciting. During break, I went outside hoping that the Chef could quickly download an app for owl calls, but he just laughed at me and headed back in for a cookie. Good thing I followed because I found the fudge stripes; I hadn't had a fudge stripe since I worked at a nature center back in '00's. So here is some fun bee facts:
bees need 2 things to survive: carbs (nectar) and protein (pollen): for that, they need floral sources (but of course!). Normally, when you begin beekeeping, you must order bees and the usual starter package contains around 10,000 LIVE bees! The post office will deliver the bees in a cage with a separate compartment within the cage for the Queen. You will then have a 3 lb package of live bees outside of their hive, disoriented, and hungry! I guess in week 3 or 4 we will find out how the heck you get those jet lagged, cranky bees into a hive ... Here are some stats for you numbers folks from tonight's lecture:
- there are 1,531 beekeepers in MD;
- 1,780 apiaries (places where bees are managed) in MD;
- 9,800 colonies in MD and 2.5 M colonies of bees in the U.S. (registered with departments of agriculture);
- and the industry is worth $40M in MD and $15B in the U.S.
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