A GOOD IDEA? A BAD IDEA? OR NO IDEA?

A GOOD IDEA? A BAD IDEA? OR NO IDEA?

As I continue to self-isolate, I will probably find myself blogging more than usual. If that is terrifying news to you, I always remind you of the delete key. Today, I would like to share three separate topics that I hope you may find of some interest. I think one could be a good idea, one is a ridiculous idea and the third one is actually a response to my “egg” blog of yesterday. Read on or delete, I’ll never know!

Good idea? We are a very competitive society in Canada. At this time of the global pandemic, our competitive nature might be a definite asset. For example, Calgary Stampeder football fans always take great delight in beating the Saskatchewan Roughriders team and their exuberant fans. Ditto Flames hockey fans versus Oilers fans. 

Could we elevate this heightened level of competition to the Covid-19 pandemic? Could we compete on a national scale to see which province can reduce the number of infections on a per capita basis, and thus deaths by practicing more self-isolation and social-distancing than the other provinces and territories? Albertans take great satisfaction from outperforming mighty Ontario and who in the west wouldn’t want to be more successful than Quebec? If we need more incentive, how about the elimination of personal income tax for the “winning” province for 2020? It wouldn’t be any more expensive than the billions the federal government is planning to throw at the problem now? I think in this competition everyone wins! What do you think?

Bad idea? As households continue to stock up on toilet paper -- emptying shelves across the country -- a new website is attempting to answer the question: How much TP do we really need? The tool calculates just how long your stash of TP will last you during a quarantine. Users enter how many rolls of toilet paper they have and how many times they visit the loo. You can really get detailed, customizing the average number of wipes per trip, the number of sheets per wipe, sheets on the roll, and people in the house. More than 2 million people have used the tool, the website says, and the average user has a whopping 500% more toilet paper than they need. I can’t believe that people need an app and a program to help them figure out their toilet paper needs. Are we really that incompetent?

No idea? My friend Peter commented on my “egg” blog and I felt his response might add a smile to your day at a time when we are certainly in need of something to smile about!

“Hi Ken,  A few other kwestions to konsider...

Does the nutritional value of an egg depend on what the hen has been eating? If eggs can affect our health then surely a hen's food can affect its health. Grain-fed cows produce quite different beef to grass-fed and so it's reasonable to assume that an egg-laying hen's diet might also affect the nutritional content of an egg. 

You know when a recipe says, 'add three eggs', how big should the eggs be? Shouldn't a recipe say 'add 200 grams of egg'?

Are boiled eggs healthier than fried, poached, or scrambled eggs? 

Should you fry eggs in butter, olive oil, or mutton fat? 

When you make an omelet, should you separate the yolk and white and whisk the whites and fold it carefully into the beaten yolks and is the final product worth the French faffing about? 

Is it an omelet if there's no cheese in it? Or is that going too far down the soufflé route?

What is that muck that hotels serve in the breakfast buffet and call scrambled eggs?

And when you're in Leh, in North India at 3500 metres above sea level, gasping for oxygen and arguing with a still seriously somersaulting stomach from 2 days in Delhi, is curried eggs a good way to start the day? ( PS Peter works in neighbouring Pakistan)

And lastly, should you ever try to teach your grandmother how to suck eggs? (And what does that even mean?)”