Thanks, Update, Short

Long day today and not enough time left for much. So, first of all, an update. On Sunday I checked the corn beef sitting in its brine. I noticed a few flecks of mold forming on the surface of the brine and the intensity of the smell of the brine had greatly diminished. I decided 3 weeks was enough, rinsed the pieces lightly, boiled them in fresh water for an hour, lightly rinsed them again, and boiled one piece for Jen with just cloves added, and boiled the other three pieces with cloves, bay leaves, and a chopped up onion. This second boil, again in fresh water, took about 1 1/2 hours 'til tender. Muy Bien.

Second, thanks. Your readership has really been an encouragement to me. At this time, we (and I mean that as this is, in my view, a community conversation) are rapidly approaching 700 reads from all over the world. Humbling. Probably goes without saying, but feel free to share the posts or links freely. Thanks also to all who commented, emailed, posted, encouraged, shared their own stories, or offered ideas for future topics. As I said, while I certainly get a self-centered enjoyment, there is a huge community component as well. I hope that through reading this blog few are offended, some are challenged, many are blessed, and all are engaged. Again, thanks.

I'll keep it short and present two tokens of thanks. First, a joke I thought of while driving today. Why was Moses afraid of slivers? He didn't want to get a staff infection! Second, because everyone loves cute (or at least should), a photo of kittens.