huh. I got disconnected. I had honest-to-god strep (as opposed to the shorthand drs often use, which is antibio treatable, but not real strep) when I was 16, coming back from the USSR. OH MY GOD. That was hideous. Shred your throat, swell it up, pour acid down it, start vomiting, paste with huge white puspockets, that's strep. I probably lost 15 lbs while I had a 2 inch growth spurt. I half hope that the three days it went untreated innoculated me. That was BAD. And it made me crave pork chops coated in peanut butter upon my recovery.

Betsy, I meant immunity to that particular variant and its like.

How do people feel about cranberry relish? I always make it by grinding cranberries coarsely with oranges, peels and all and just enough sugar to take the edge off.

We totally do it like that in my family, in the old school meat grinder that clamps to the table. LOVE IT.

And add my to the no-flu-shot group, due to not being in or near a high-risk group. Also, a couple of years ago when I was feverish for two weeks and in bed for one week, that was apparently not the flu, anyway. So whatever, is what I say.

My cranberry sauce has brandy-soaked apricots in it. It's nummy.

I meant immunity to that particular variant and its like.

That is the incredibly bitchy thing about influenza: there is no such thing as "and its like". A year after a given strain hits your immune system, its surviving descendants are very likely to be completely unrecognizable as far as your antibodies are concerned.

As far as I understand the newspaper stories, that's why (some) people are unhappy that they've completely sequenced the genetic code of the 1918 influenza strain: if you released it into the wild today, it would sweep through killing just as many people. Nobody's ever been exposed to it, nobody's immune. (I suppose there are still a few survivors of the 1918 strain, but precious few.)

My cranberry sauce has brandy-soaked apricots in it. It's nummy.

drools

mops up drool

begs for recipe

A really excellent book on the 1918 influenza is "The Great Mortality" by John Kelly. It explains why influenza is such a versatile and fast-moving bug.

That is the incredibly bitchy thing about influenza: there is no such thing as "and its like".

Yeah, I understand that (hence my not worry about not having the flu vac.) (Well, there is a chance of close enough variant, that it works, but...) I was thinking biowarfare and frozen samples and whatnot. Hey, I've watched Frontline! I'm suitably assured that if I'm doomed, I'm doomed!

1/2 cup dried apricots, thinly sliced
1/4 cup apricot brandy (or any brandy, or orange juice if you don't want the alchohol)
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 bag fresh cranberries

Combine apricots and brandy in a small bowl, cover and let macerate overnight.

Combine water and sugar, bring to a low boil. Add everything else, cook 8 minutes, or until saucy.

How do people feel about cranberry relish? I always make it by grinding cranberries coarsely with oranges, peels and all and just enough sugar to take the edge off.

We totally do it like that in my family, in the old school meat grinder that clamps to the table. LOVE IT.

That's how we do it. I don't actually like it (I don't like orange with cranberry) but I love making it.