Spring Is Here & So Is The Corona Virus, Irish Soda Bread With Currants

Spring Is Here & So Is The Corona Virus-
We've been having really nice mild weather, then this weekend we had some heavy rain which we needed. New snow on the foothills which is good for fire protection later. Little green shoots and flowers are coming up all over the garden in the front and back yards! The hens are still laying which is so wonderful, having FRESH organic eggs! I made whole grain pasta, poached eggs, steamed asparagus with Parmesan cheese, for dinner Saturday, oh so good!

So now we have five cases of the corona virus in Idaho, that we know of. The first person traveled to New York and then realized she was infected, bringing it into Idaho. She was smart, she went and got tested as soon as she had symptoms and is now self isolating. Don't know much about the other cases.  Almost all of the school districts closed school yesterday thru the state, for the next 2 weeks. That would be til the end of Spring break. That left parents high and dry for child care since they need to go to work. My employer has lots of patients calling in, panicking. There's been a lot of panic buying in Idaho which I shake my head at. We have a full 55 gallon rain barrel and a filter if we needed to filter it for drinking or washing. We also have bottled water stored. That's just part of our normal mode. We also have food stored and lots of toilet paper! It's really funny that people are panicking about not being able to buy toilet people paper, because so many places are out. Find a box of tissue people and cut it up (not for septic tanks). It's funny to me that there's no run on cold remedies and cough syrup? I mean if you're sick for 14 days and can't go out, wouldn't you want some on hand? We bought some groceries yesterday, and interestingly enough they were sold out of bananas and potatoes. Why?

The Press isn't really talking about anything about keeping your immune system healthy. That would be boring news. Vitamin D3 is really great to take to keep your immune system healthy. Do all the other normal things to keep yourself healthy, so that you will be less likely to become infected. This is always a good reminder to be prepared for the unexpected. I have some long-term food storage as well as short-term, we have a freezer, our hens are laying and I am planning on getting three more chicks in a few months. We have three fruit trees and perennial beds that are edible. We have home canned goods and we'll be planting our summer garden soon. I always keep homeopathic remedies and essential oils hand for colds, cough and the flu. Ironically, ahead of the Corona virus, I had a terrible stomach flu bug early last week.  I had terrible vomiting twice in one day and no energy. I told my husband he didn't need to take care of me and stay home, so I just drank the fluids that I could and slept. Hubby brought me home some ready to eat Jello on his lunch break, a life saver!

The good thing was we had all kinds of  OTC remedies on hand that I actually didn't need to take. I stayed home for two days and rested. To me this is just a real wake-up call, hopefully, for people to in general be more prepared. The Red Cross for years who said that everybody should have several days worth of food and water on hand. I heard a co-worker say his relatives back east were out of food. Since they lived 4 blocks from their grocery store they always shopped there. Now the store is empty, and they'll drive way north to buy supplies. Most people just don't listen. RESILIENCY to me is a really good thing in this kind of a situation. Be flexible, think outside the box, do something nice out in the Spring weather that doesn't involve being around other people. Sunday, when other people were panicking about the Corona virus, I made some Irish food! Go bake my friends!!!

Irish Soda Bread With Currants-
In early celebration of St. Patrick's Day I made Ina Garten's Irish Soda Bread. It came out great, moist, a little subtle orange and the currants were a nice addition-

I served it warm with corned beef, baby Yukon golds taters and carrots. Fabulous! Happy St. Patrick's Day!