A GENIUS SAYS GOODBYE

From Worldometer,  COVID-19 new deaths:

           DAY USA   WORLD   Brazil      India   South Africa

June      9     1093    4732        1185      246         82

July       1       676    4857        1057      438         92

             5       251    3572          535       421       173

             7       993    5504        1312       479       192

           12       380    4118          659       500       108

           14       935    5414        1341       586       174

           15     1001    5760        1261       614       107

           19       412    4606          715       675         85

           21     1119    5669        1346       671        195

           22     1205    7128        1293     1120        572

           26       450    4307         556       715        114
           28    1266     5589         955       776        190
Aug      1    1462     6429       1191       765        193
            2     1123     5601       1048       852        148
            3       467     4430         514       514        213

            5     1362     6292       1394       849        345

          10       534     4813         593     1013        198
          11       569     4575         721       887        213
          12     1504     6556       1242       835        130
          13     1386     6816       1164       950        129
          14     1284     6653       1301     1006        260
          15     1071     5410         726       950        121

Summary:  A little better.

From the New York Times Sunday briefing:

In other school news, a Korean study published last month is being re-evaluated after the researchers released additional data. The study suggested that children between the ages of 10 and 19 spread the coronavirus more than adults. But now it’s not clear who was infecting whom.

The virtual Democratic Convention begins on your TV screen Monday night.  Kamala Harris speaks Wednesday and Joe Biden on Thursday.  Next week Monday, the Republican Convention.  79 days to November 3.  

There seems to be more backlash than Trump anticipated about crippling the U.S. Post Office.  Turns out, like guns, there is a sufficient number of Americans who view this service as an inalienable right, and even some Republicans are voicing their concerns.  Then there are the veterans not getting their pills and those on the financial edge missing a necessary check.  This effort could actually backfire.

On this Sunday, a spiritual message from a genius, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  The background music, The Prayer, was brought to your attention by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli.

Gabo, a Columbian novelist, was born in 1927 and passed away in 2014.  In 1982 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.  Three years later he wrote Love in the Time of Cholera.

Perhaps I should end my posting with those messages above.  So for the more solemn, goodbye for now.  If you are searching for high cuisine creativity, read on, for at one time the title today was My Best Boiled Peanuts, Ever.

Nationally, peanuts and baseball go together.  Why?  Real fans get nervous, and with tension, it helps to do something with our hands.  On a hot afternoon, what better than salted peanuts with beer?

The biggest supplier, Hampton Farms, annually sells more than 3.7 million bags at ballparks.  AT&T Park in San Francisco has a fresh roasted peanut stand, where you can smell the fragrance.  Boiled peanuts are offered at The Tampa Bay Rays stadium.

People in Hawaii no doubt consume more boiled than roasted peanuts.  The shells can be a maintenance nightmare, but many here start by cracking the shell in your mouth to taste the flavor, then rather carefully placing the shells in a bag for disposal.  In bars and ballparks, roasted or boiled, the shells nationally end up on the ground, to be later cleaned up.  Some of us are neat here in Hawaii.

During the slave-trading years it was thought that Africa was the source of peanuts.    Turns out that they came from Brazil and Peru.  The history of American boiled peanuts goes back to the Civil War.  As peanuts were grown in the South, boiling became popular as a source of food, and salt was added as a preservative.  Thus, the southern states became known for this delicacy.  There is, further, some charm to Coke and salty peanuts.  It wasn't until May of 2006 that Governor Mark Sanford signed a bill making boiled peanuts South Carolina's official state snack food:

Ingredients:

4 to 5 pounds green peanuts in shell*
4 to 6 quarts water
1 cup plain salt per gallon of water

*  Only use peanuts that are green (uncured).  Not the color green, but farm fresh harvested peanuts which are called green peanuts.  These green peanuts are available from grocery stores, food distributors, and farmers markets, during the growing season in the South.  The peanuts must not be roasted or already cooked or dried.

Hawaii uses the same formula, except perfectionists insist on larger grain salt from local ponds.  However, sometimes boiled-dry peanuts are sold.  Usually, the process boils the peanuts, followed by dehydration for longer shelf-life.  

Various flavors are sometimes added.  Li hing mui, ginger and star anise came from China, where sold peanuts tend to use these spices.

Yesterday I went to Marukai and bought a bag of raw (green) peanuts.  I seek the peak of cuisine, like, for example, my pasta al dente, or half-cooked.  So I thought, why don't I carefully prepare my batch to attain this state for the nut, then, after draining the salted water, add some White Truffle Oil and Old English Fish and Chips Vinegar.

I might add that the 15 Craigside dining room provided pork tonkatsu last night, so I tried to make the outside crispy in a hot pan with olive oil, and it somewhat worked.  I added some ahi sashimi.

As I also did my wellness center exercise, and weighed less than 160 pounds, I splurged with some of my just boiled peanuts and Ao whisky, the latest Suntory product.

There was only a hint of truffles and vinegar, but the essence, brought out by the Ao elixir, made this the best boiled peanuts I have ever had.

Sure, the coronavirus, Trump and economic woes make life in the USA difficult today.  However, is there a better place on Planet Earth?  I'm proud to be an American:

Perhaps God is still, in his own way, blessing America.

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