“Don’t be so melodramatic, this isn’t the opera!”  “The most savory grape, the one that produces the wines with best texture and aroma, the sweetest and most generous, doesn't grow in rich soil but in stony land; the plant, with a mother's obstinacy, overcomes obstacles to thrust its roots deep into the ground and take advantage of every drop of water.  That, my grandmother explained to me, is how flavors are concentrated in the grape.”  “ . . . love is a free contract that begins with a spark and can end the same way.” Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende   

Chicory is a somewhat bitter tasting winter vegetable that offers a touch of vitamin-rich splendour and variety to our dining during the chillier and darker months.  Chicory, Belgian endive and radicchio are differing varieties of the same plant, Cichorium intybus.  Unfamiliar to many, chicory is an immensely versatile vegetable which is a pleasure to eat whether it’s raw, braised or roasted.  But what has chicory got to do with coffee?  Plenty of tales abound relating to the origins of the chicory we eat today because edible chicory is the product of complex cultivation processes.  These processes had to be discovered at some point and, most likely, they developed in 19th century Belgium.  Today’s cultivated chicory originates from the common chicory, a blue flowered plant that grows along the fringes of fields.  When starved of light, this plant’s roots send out shoots, and we have come to know these as chicory.  Nowadays it’s mostly cultivated in special growing containers filled with a solution of plant nutrients.  Although chicory is available in our supermarkets all year round, its main season extends from November through to April.  The biggest producers are to be found in France, Holland and, of course, Belgium, in whose cuisine chicory is utterly indispensable!  Richard Williams  Find recipes at https://blog.liebherr.com/appliances/uk/chicory/

A cordillera is an extensive chain of mountains or mountain ranges.  The term is borrowed from a Spanish word with the same meaning that itself comes from cordilla, a diminutive of "cuerda" ("rope").  The term is most commonly used in physical geography and is particularly applied to the various ranges of the Andes of South America and less frequently to other mountain ranges in the "ridge" that rims the Pacific Ocean.  In Colombia and Venezuela, cordilleras are named according to their position:  Cordillera Occidental, Central, and Oriental.  Various local names are used for the cordilleras in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.  Such mountain ranges have a complex structure, which is usually the result of folding and faulting accompanied by volcanic activity. In South America, the ranges include numerous volcanic peaks.  The Andes cordillera has Ojos del Salado, the highest active volcano in the world and second-highest point in the Western Hemisphere.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordillera 

namby-pamby (adj.)  "weakly sentimental, affectedly nice, insipidly pretty," 1745, from the satiric nickname of English poet Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), "a good Whig and a middling poet" [Macaulay] mocking his sentimental pastorals addressed to infant members of the nobility.  Used first in 1726 in a farce credited to Carey (Pope also used it).  Related:  Namby-pambical.  https://www.etymonline.com/word/namby-pamby

 

Savoy cabbage is also known as curly cabbage.  With ruffled, lacy, deeply ridged leaves, Savoy cabbages are perhaps the prettiest cabbages around.  The leaves are more loosely layered and less tightly packed than green or red cabbage, although its uses are similar.  It is delicious thinly sliced in salads, quickly stir-fried, or braised in butter.  Savoy cabbage is a bit more tender than other cabbages and works nicely as a fresh and crunchy wrap; try using it in place of rice paper or tortillas with your favorite fillings.  Link to recipes and find pictures and information on several cabbages at https://www.thespruceeats.com/types-of-cabbages-2215899 

Hay-wire is the light wire that was used in baling machines to tie up bales of hay.  At the turn of the 20th century the expression 'a haywire outfit' began to be used in the USA.  This was used to describe companies that patched-up faulty machinery using such wire, rather than making proper long-term fixes.  In 1905, The US Forestry Bureau Bulletin described a 'Hay wire outfit' as 'a contemptuous term for loggers with poor logging equipment'.  By 1920, the use of haywire to mean 'awry' or 'out of control' was recorded in Dialect Notes, Volume 82:  "Hay wire.  Gone wrong or no good.  Slang."  https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/go-haywire.html 

Travel the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal on this virtual tour by Lydia Schrandt   The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal extends for 184.5 miles from Washington, DC to Cumberland, Maryland.  For nearly a century, the canal served as a lifeline for settlements along the Potomac River.  Construction started on the C&O Canal in July of 1828 and was completed in 1850.  For nearly 100 years--1831 to 1924--the canal served as a critical transportation corridor used to ship goods from the Allegheny Mountains (like coal).  In 1971, the canal became a designated National Historical Park.  See gorgeous pictures at https://www.10best.com/interests/explore/chesapeake-ohio-canal-virtual-photo-tour-50th-anniversary/

The 2021 Kenturtle Derby at the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station is the second annual Race for the Romaine.  Turtles Kyle, Benedict, Morty and Randy compete for the crown of lettuce in the Winner's Circle.  https://www.riverbender.com/articles/details/kenturtle-derby-2021-49875.cfm     Kyle ran for the Romaine and took the Winner’s Splash.  Then he went back to the starting line and ran it again.  Watch at https://www.facebook.com/aquariumstl/videos/299827588267532  42:13  or a spoof at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88XFljp1odc  11:18 

147^th Kentucky Derby had five hours of TV coverage, 2:30-7:30 p.m.  on May 1, 2021.  Race started at 6:57 and the time was of the actual race was 2:01.02. 

Medina Spirit won by a half-length at the Derby, giving Bob Baffert his seventh victory, the most of any trainer in the race's 147-year history.  Medina Spirit led all the way in the 1¼ miles.  He paid $26.20, $12 and $7.60.  The victory was worth $1.86 million.  Jockey John Velazquez earned his fourth Derby victory aboard the colt that was purchased as a yearling for $1,000 and was a bargain-basement buy at $35,000 last July for current owner Amr Zedan of Saudi Arabia.  Read extensive article and see order of finish for the 19 horses at https://www.espn.com/horse-racing/story/_/id/31373237/medina-spirit-gives-bob-baffert-record-7th-kentucky-derby-win 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2359  May 3, 2021