A pox on cold germs

I'm sick.
I'd been fighting off this cold for the past few days and I woke up this morning to the realization that I'd lost. Sore throat, stuffy nose, cotton head, blech.

I had animal science today, so I carted myself off to school with a large pack of kleenex. I was right, and she did give us a pop quiz. She likes to walk around while we're taking it and I could see this gleeful grin on her face as she watched us struggle. One of the other girls mentioned how much joy she seemed to get out of torturing us and her response was "Of course! Why do you think I like being a teacher?"

I think I did fairly well on the quiz, though I know I got the question about the part of the cow's digestive system meant to trap foreign debris wrong. The common name for it is "honeycomb" (it looks like a honeycomb when you cut it open), but the true name is reticulum, and that I couldn't remember. It's actually a pretty neat body part, and is the site of something called "hardware disease". This occurs when a cow eats a wire, nail, bolt, or some other metal object. The reticulum is located right next to the heart, so when the object gets trapped there, it will often start to poke the heart through the side of the reticulum. As you can imagine, this makes a cow feel less than well. Generally, instead of operating, they drop a large magnet down the cow's throat. This settles in the reticulum, attracts the metal, and then either gets passed through the cow, or at least keeps all of the metal sitting at the bottom of the reticulum, away from the heart. As cows will eat anything small enough to fit in their mouths (including some things that can't even be swallowed), hardware disease is not all that uncommon. Cool, huh?

Our lecture today was on beef cattle breeds. My instructor's favourite breed is the Scottish Highlander, and we are expected to know that one inside out. We were also told that the Texas Longhorn (see picture) must be identified by us on a test. If we get that wrong, she will fail us. She will then also go around to all our other classes and fail us. She will possibly continue to fail us for the rest of our time at the college, and the head of the department is scared of her, so he'll let her do it. After seeing the Texas Longhorns, I can kind of see her point.

Anyway, after I got out of class I decided I needed to make something to feel better. So, this is my recipe for a "Kate is sick" dinner.

Veggie Stew
4 new potatoes, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
1 lb button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 head garlic, crushed
1 carton veggie stock
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
3 tbsp flour
sea salt to taste


sautee onion, garlic and mushrooms in the bottom of a large pot. Reduce heat and pour in 1/2 cup water. Let simmer for a few mins.
Remove from heat and add flour, 1 tbsp at a time, stirring well to make a roux. Place back on heat and slowly add veggie stock, stirring constantly. Add potatoes, carrots and spices and simmer on low for 1-2 hours, or until veggies are soft. Serve.
(and no Mom, I don't think this would freeze well)

Beverage
Organic green tea with lots of honey and a tiny bit of lemon

Dessert
Chocolate. Lots of it.