Doublesniffle

[desperance]

Dear cold,

I had thought you dead to me. Something in me (tho' actually I think it's you) wants to applaud your revisionist/resurrectionist tendency, even while the rest of me revolts and/or is revolting. In so many ways.

If you leave me now - well, I guess I'll get over you. Why don't we give it a try?

Infectedly yours (for the nonce)

Me


- I am of that generation brought up with doublethink: knowing that a cold is a virus, and yet raised believing what our parents were raised to believe. "You'll catch a cold if you go outside with your hair wet." Happily that one no longer applies to me - a shaven head resolves all issues, all - but I do still twitch, I do still think wet and chill make me vulnerable. Hell, I have been to a wet chill climate, and come home with a cold: QED! (Besides, it always happens in the Chalet School, so.)

Also, "Feed a cold and starve a fever." I have no idea, none, whether there is actual wisdom engrossed in this apophthegm; I have never yet allowed it to circumscribe my choices; but I have spent much of today wanting to eat more, even while I lie upon the couch and do nothing to deserve it.

And yes, I have also been taking steps to keep warm. I've even put on a long-sleeved shirt, though this now falls entirely outside my notion of clothing (appropriate outerwear = T-shirt, jeans, sandals: all day, all year. What need more, or other?). I had socks on too, but I've had to take them off, because I have to go out, and I still can't do that sandals-and-socks thing, no.

Dinner tonight will mainly revolve around chunks of pork stewed with warming things: ginger, star anise, chillies. Like that. Milady will want a vegetation, though, so I'm going to go buy a Savoy cabbage. That too might get a few chillies tossed in. For Karen it's prophylactic, I'll be doing her a favour, right? Right...?

I was meaning to cut off a chunk of the pork and make more sossidges first, while I have the machinery out and the skins soaked and the will all energised - but I dunno, I feel too crap to fuss. Maybe I'll cut a chunk off and put it in the freezer, do it another day, maybe.

Also, maybe I'll spend the afternoon on the couch watching musicals. That might happen.

Talking of which, O internet, advise me: when Tom Waits informs us that his Stacys are soaking wet, what exactly does he mean? And is he in danger of catching cold?

Comments

[movingfinger]

I always heard "Starve a cold and feed a fever," which makes sense because a fever's high temperature needs calories.

[desperance]

Heh. I had a boyfriend once who knew it that way round, and tried to argue that it was obviously right because his version had an alliteration that mine lacked. I did not find his argument convincing.

*shrugs* As I say, I don't know - tho' fever associates itself in my mind with upset stomachs and so forth, and with memories of being deliberately starved by medical personnel when I was a kid. Also, in the canonical Mary Renault version, Alexander died of being given wine while feverish... (Why, yes: [almost] everything I know of Alexander I learned from The Persian Boy.)

[wordweaverlynn]

Speaking of cabbage and chilis, do you know about curtido?

1/2 head cabbage, shredded. (Or a whole small head of red cabbage.)
1 carrot, peeled and grated.
4 cups boiling water.
3 scallions, minced.
(I also threw in 1 stem of green garlic, minced.)
1/2 cup white vinegar. (I actually used half white and half cider.)
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, minced. (Or subtitute 1/2-1 tsp. red pepper flakes.)
1/2 teaspoon salt.
(add a pinch of sugar if you like.)

Place the cabbage and carrots in a large heatproof bowl. Pour the boiling water into the bowl to submerge the cabbage and carrot, and let sit for about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

Return the cabbage mix to the bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Let sit at room temperature for a few hours, then chill.

If you use red cabbage you will get a bright magenta relish. Very handsome. I always serve it in clear glass bowls.

It's best eaten in small bites as a bright, piquant contrast to other dishes.

[desperance]

Wow. I did not know of curtido! How has it avoided me this long? Thank you!

[movingfinger]

Oh, I overlooked your question, sorry.

It's a reference to Stacy Adams brand shoes.

[desperance]

Thank you! I figured probably shoes, but I do not think we have those in the UK. either in the shops or in our societal awareness (viz, never heard of 'em, me).