> We've seen some, but not in any great amounts anywhere. What's
> surprising is seeing the home made cloth masks--don't know if they were
> accidentally dropped or what. I'd not like to carelessly lose something
> I put work into.

People may not feel that way about losing stuff
someone else put work into, and anyway, kids
abandon the darnedest things.

Speaking of which, in the San Diego TSA checkpoint
they had a cane hanging up hooked over a partition, 
so I pointed to it and asked, what happened, somebody
have a miracle?

>  ML> biohazard is a serious issue with the minute
>  ML> concentration of pathogen likely to be active on
>  ML> the implements for more than a few minutes. We
> No, and we don't go around sniffing everything like a dog would.

Though a marginally risky behavior, it would make
life more interesting. Cf. the entertaining and
recommended book Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman?

> Quite so. Only thing consistent is inconsistency.

Luckily that's an exaggeration. Like when I look
around and imagine that the only thing human is 
inhumanity.

> That's why the washer gets used for the dishcloth, towels, etc. When we
> bought our new washer 6 years ago (as part of moving into this house),
> we got one with a steam clean cycle. Good for disinfecting and other
> such like.

Ordinary clean is almost invariably clean enough,
though if you inspect the cycle closely, things may
not seem that way (clothes sit around in that murky
mess for a long time).

>  ML> > Yes, but I found a silver ladle--adds a bit of class. (G)
>  ML> We don't want food with good taste, we want food
>  ML> that tastes good (apologies to Charlie the Tuna).
> I know, but sometimes it's fun to have something so utterly different
> from our usual life style.

So I eat pizza or grilled cheese once in a while.
Precious metal utensils are a pretension and taste
funny as well.

>  ML> Which is fine with a couple caveats. One, speed
>  ML> is sometimes more important than accuracy, and
>  ML> counting every grain is not conducive to speed.
> I may not be the fastest but I still have all my fingers. (G)

Okay, so at the next picnic I'll put you to work
prepping a dish that doesn't call for extra blood.

>  ML> I just had an iced mocha with 200 Calories'
>  ML> worth of sugar. It tasted good.
> It's coffee--you're welcome to it. (G)

I've been drinking coffee, because it's what Hilton
gives me free, and oddly my sleep has not been
suffering too much. Hilton beds are, of course,
quite comfy, and that helps.

>  ML> >  ML> Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book
> And quite different from the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook that came
> out in 1950, which broke everything down into very basic steps.

I remember that book - it was written for families
whose mommies (and daddies) didn't give the kids a
proper apprenticeship in the kitchen, whereas the
Penn Dutch and similar historical ones were aimed
at people who had some idea of what bake in a quick 
oven means.

Frau Moyer's cheese custard
categories: dairy, dessert, historical
yield: 1

1 qt milk
1/2 c pulverized sugar
5 eggs, separated
1 c sweet cream
1/4 ts grated nutmeg
1/4 c butter, melted
pastry

Pour the quart of milk into an earthen bowl, stand in a 
warm place and allow to thicken. When the milk is quite 
thick, pour boiling water over it, put into a cheese 
cloth bag and let drain for 12 hr. Take 1 cp of this 
curd or cheese, mash through a fine sieve and put into 
a mixing bowl. Stir in the sweet cream, sugar, beaten 
yolks of eggs and melted butter; flavor with the nutmeg. 
Add the stiffly beaten egg whites. Line an earthen 
pudding dish with pastry and pour in the cheese custard 
and bake on the bottom of a quick oven (450F), for 40 min. 
Serve at once. 

Source: Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book - Fine Old Recipes, 
Culinary Arts Press, 1936.