Do you watch your local news on a local station? Who owns that station? Nextar? Sinclair? Another conglomerate? Pay atteention to the news you get. Check out sources outside of the USA to see what the rest of the world is focusing on. Pay attention.  I, too, am a cookbook addict.  We have ticks in our woods. Nasty critters.  Head Start is on the chopping block.    Don’t forget to support NPR and PBS. Check out the Presidential Term Countdown Clock. 893 more days.

Wild Cooking Woman  8/10/26

Do you know who Doug Wilson is? You should. According to Kiera Butler, he is a self-declared Christian nationalist who thinks women’s suffrage was a mistake, wants to bring back public flogging, and believes in an America dominated by what he calls “biblical masculinity.” He is also influential in the elimination of women from the military being pushed by the current Secretary of Defense.

See the religious breakdown of your state and how it compares to the rest of the country HERE.

There are instances when doing less is better for the environment and your plants. Avoid deadheading these plants until after summer.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced a recall by Taylor Fresh Foods (doing business as Taylor Farms) of numerous ready-to-eat foods sold nationwide. The products were distributed to retail distribution centers in 26 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin. Go HERE for a full list of recalled products.

Meet the elite squad known as the “Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage” (OLAUG), a Cape Cod nonprofit made up of senior women who kayak, free-dive, and pull submerged trash out of freshwater ponds. 

Dennis Kirk, co-author of  Project 2025, has been nominated to be the Interior Department’s inspector general. 

Want to make yourself less appealing to mosquitoes? Take this quiz for some surprising how-to ideas.

How can you get ink out of your clothes? According to Homeaglow:

1. For ballpoint ink, dab alcohol or foamy shaving cream onto the ink stain and leave for a few minutes.  Blot the stain with layers of white paper towels or a cloth dampened with water.
2.  For felt-tip pen ink, apply alcohol to a clean towel and rub the stained area. If that doesn’t work, try mixing one part baking soda with one part toothpaste in a small cup. 

My most recent cookbook purchases:

• Cooking from Scratch: A Careful Selection of Useful Recipes by Toya Boudy
• A Domestic Cookbook: The First Known African American Cookbook – A Culinary Legacy from 1866 by Malinda Russell 
• Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round by Marisa McClellan  
• The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001–2026 by America’s Test Kitchen
• Helen Corbitt Cooks for Looks by Helen Corbitt
• Helen Corbitt’s Greenhouse Cookbook by Helen Corbitt
• Helen Corbitt Cooks for Company by Helen Corbitt
• Braided Heritage: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine by Jessica B. Harris

Want to avoid getting bitten by ticks and other annoying pests? Protect your kids and pets? I use Mimikai Mosquito & Tick Repellent Spray- DEET-Free, Naturally Derived for Adults & Kids(2+) – Safe for Pets – EPA-Registered – 8-Hour Mosquito & 4-Hour Tick Protection. I also wear long pants, tuck the bottoms into my socks, and spray exposed skin.

The Department of Health and Human Services shared plans to cut back the majority of Head Start federal requirements. 

Scallion & Fresh Corn Spoon Bread

INGREDIENTS
2 cups corn kernels (from about 4 cobs)
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup water
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup fine white cornmeal
2 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing the skillet
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. baking soda

PREPARATION

• Preheat oven to 375ºF.
• Grease a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or an 8-inch-by-8-inch casserole dish well with butter and set
  aside.
• Add kernels to a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Reserve.
• Heat milk, water, and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear around
  the edges. Then whisk in cornmeal and cook until thickened, 2–3 minutes. Remove pan from
  heat and stir in butter, then scallions, kernels, and nutmeg. Mix well. Let the mixture cool, then
  vigorously whisk in eggs. Sprinkle cream of tartar and baking soda over the mixture and stir to
  combine.
• Pour batter into the skillet or casserole dish and place in the oven. Bake for 30–45 minutes,
  rotating once halfway through, until the center is set but still a little bit jiggly and the top is lightly
  browned.
• Spoon bread should inflate while cooking and deflate as it cools. Allow to cool for 15–30 minutes
  before serving.

Recipe from Steven Satterfield of Miller Union in Atlanta, Georgia

I am back. Missed you all. Always some drama. Took a break from the news, too! Not a complete break, but enough to feel rested and ready to go again. Lots of concerns. Some we just have to watch, and speak up when we can.  You can be a thermometer or a thermostat. (Thanks, Dr. Dorothy M.) Will Will Smith’s movie “I, Robot” come true? How many more people will starve to death in the wealthiest nation on the planet over the next 900 or so days? Why is taking one pill a day to save your life so onorous? Why don’t we have a better system than shipping children from foster placement to foster placement with their few belongings in garbage bags? How many people have died from the cyclospora outbreak?Is there any food that is safe to eat? Does character matter?  Has it ever mattered?  Don’t forget to support NPR and PBS. Check out the Presidential Term Countdown Clock. 900 more days.

Wild Cooking Woman 8/4/26

Are you dehydrated? During these hot days and weeks, keeping your water intake up to par is important.

Claude AI connected itself to the internet and gained unauthorized access to Anthropic’s systems. This was just days after OpenAI said its model slipped out of control and hacked the systems of AI firm Hugging Face. How can AI be safely kept under human control? (More) 

Here is my version of Neiman Marcus Dip (no bacon)

• 8 oz smoked sausage, chopped OR 1 1/4 cups cooked (in butter or oil) and finely chopped button or cremini mushrooms

• 1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened 

• 1 cup mayonnaise

• 8 oz. sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded 

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions, plus more for garnish 

• 1/2 cup lightly toasted sliced almonds, plus more for garnish 

• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika if using mushrooms plus optional liquid smoke

• 1 tsp. black pepper 

• 1 tsp. hot sauce

Directions:

1. Cook sausage in a skillet until browned and some fat renders.  Chop it small while it’s warm.
2. If using mushrooms, cook them in a little butter or vegetable oil (not olive oil) and chop finely.
3. Mix cream cheese and mayo in a large bowl.
4. Fold in cheese, green onions, almonds, pepper, hot sauce, and cooked saugage/mushrooms until just combined. 
5. Add smoked paprika if using mushrooms. You can add a drop of liquid smoke if you want that flavor, but no more than 1 drop.
6. Garnish with more almonds and onions if desired.
7. Serve with your favorite crackers, crudites, or tiny thin slices of firm bread.

How long has it been since you cleaned your phone’s screen? What about your TV? Your child’s tablet?  Not that you need to wipe away all your DNA, unless, of course, you have another life we don’t know about.  Clean them to remove skin oils, germs, food residue, and anything else that finds your devices. Here’s how you can clean them safely.

On my reading table —

• Exit Strategy by Lee Child and Andrew Child
• River is Waiting by Wally Lamb
• Angel Down by Daniel Kraus
• Paper Girl by Beth Macy
• There Is No Place For Us by Brian Goldstone
• Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
• The Great Hippopotamus Hotel by Alexander McCall Smith
• Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor