Asparagus, Death of the Penny, Death of Bats.

So far the weather is not co-operating, either with me or with the asparagus farmer. Tim Barrie of Barrie’s Asparagus says they need more sun and we sure haven’t had much of that lately. Very disappointing, especially since one year we were eating asparagus as early as April 26th. I know, I have friends who will be totally fed up with me at the moment because I am wittering on about asparagus, but I love the stuff. I am haunting Facebook to see if they are picking yet. Tim posted a couple of pictures on Facebook showing one spear which, thanks to the sun, grew about an inch yesterday afternoon. He said today he would pick and eat it for lunch, waaaaah, what about the customers? It is supposed to rain again this weekend so I suspect the asparagus won’t be doing a lot of growing. Shortly after I wrote this, we got quite a thunderstorm with lots of rain, the asparagus needs sun now, not rain.

It appears the Canadian mint will stop producing the penny (one cent) piece as of tomorrow. They will start phasing them out in the fall. We have a pig full of pennies so we had better get them cashed in so they won’t be valueless. I guess in fact that will take a bit of time, presumably prices will all be rounded up which will, no doubt, cost us a bit more in the future. Probably not something we would notice on a day to day basis, but I bet it will amount to a fair bit if one were to tot it up. Checking the article again, they say “Over time, that will lead to the penny effectively becoming extinct, although the government has noted that one-cent coins will always be accepted in cash transactions for as long as people are holding on to them.” so we don’t have to worry about emptying our piggy bank.

A serious situation is developing in the bat population, whole colonies are being wiped out by a white nose fungus and the wholesale loss of bats could result in a proliferation of insects which would destroy crops. Bats prey on insects which increase when the bats are not around. A cave in Eastern Canada has had its bat population totally decimated by this disease. As yet it hasn’t spread west, but scientists are worried that it will do so. What with the problem of bees dying off and now we hear about bats, it makes me even more concerned about what we are doing to the environment.

Unless your mother is lucky enough to win Emeril Lagasse’s Mother’s Day Breakfast in Bed contest, you may want to treat her to something different on that special day. Hmm, I wonder if I can get Matt to do this for me, not that I personally enjoy breakfast in bed, but it would make a nice breakfast. I’d probably prefer asparagus for breakfast anyway LOL.

Chocolate French Toast
Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup1% milk
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 10 slices whole wheat bread
• 2-1/2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
• 10 teaspoons soft margarine (contains no partially hydrogenated oil)

Directions

1. Beat eggs, milk, sugar, cocoa, vanilla, salt and cinnamon, if desired, in large bowl until smooth.
2. Heat griddle or skillet over medium-low heat. Grease griddle with margarine, if necessary.
3. Dip bread in egg mixture. Place on griddle. Cook about 2 to 4 minutes on each side. Serve immediately with 1 teaspoon soft margarine per slice.
   5 servings ( 2 bread slices plus 1/2 cup strawberries)

Have a great day.