In anticipation of retirement, we bought a Sprinter van, fixed by Roadtrek into an RV. One of the things we learned right away is the importance of being organized, living in such a small space. We decided it would be good to have everything we need for the laundromat in a single bag. It is lined with a plastic box, in case of spills. Now, when it is laundry time, we just have to grab it and the clothes and head off.
Steven Colbert does a segment on his “A Late Show” that he calls “Meanwhile.” It is a collection of little news items, too small to stand alone as a story on his show. Here is another little “Bad Tad Meanwhile.” A little fact about a patient where there is no more information available or it doesn’t matter. Just weird encounters in the emergency department.
A 19-year-old came in with discomfort in her vagina. She said she had used her mother-in-law’s “old douche bag.” She said she was afraid her nephew, who had been playing with the bag earlier, put marbles in it. She was afraid she might have marbles in her vagina. Her husband checked her, feeling for a marble earlier today. He said, “There is something up there that doesn’t belong there.” I removed a cat-eye marble from her vagina.
A 50-year-old man came in after a three-foot-long board was dropped onto him. The board had a nail sticking out of it, which was stuck into the scalp on the top his head. He had walked to a neighborhood fire station where the medics were called. They transported him with the board carefully secured in place. I just pulled it out.
A 37-year-old man stepped on a screwdriver that went clear up through, poking out the top of his foot.
A 15-year-old was brought in by ambulance after being hit by her 10-year-old sister with a can of Pringles.
A 26-year-old female presented at 6:00 in the morning complaining of being weak and tired after being up all night drinking whiskey at a party.
I was in the mood for something chocolatey to get my mind off of Covid-19 so I had Hunter and Pippa come over and help me make them. Given the need to ice them with lots of chocolate icing, they didn’t really make too much of a mess and we had a great time.
King Arthur Flour
24
Cookies
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup milk
Icing
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line with parchment paper two baking sheets.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, salt, vanilla, and baking powder.
3. Beat in the sugar, then the egg.
4. Add the flour to the wet ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Do this gently; there’s no need to beat the batter.
5. Using a spoon or a tablespoon cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. The balls of dough should be about 1 1/4″ in diameter. Flatten each mound of dough to a circle about 1 1/2″ across; wet your fingers or a knife, or grease the buttered bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup to do this. Leave 2″ to 2 1/2″ between each cookie, for expansion.
6. Bake the cookies for about 10 to 11 minutes, or until they’re a mottled brown on the bottom (carefully tilt one up to look), but not colored on top. You may see the barest hint of browning around the edges, but these cookies are supposed to be soft and cake-like, so don’t over-bake them. Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them cool right on the pan as you make the frosting.
7. To make the icing: Place the chocolate chips, corn syrup, vanilla, and cream into a large microwave-safe bowl, or into a large saucepan.
8. Heat the mixture until it’s very hot; the cream will start to form bubbles. Remove from the heat, and stir until smooth.
9. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar and salt. Let cool to warm room temperature while you make the cookies. Dip the top of each cookie into the warm icing; swirl the cookie around to really give it a good coating. Set the cookies back on the baking sheet.
10. Spread the remaining icing evenly atop the cookies. If it’s too soft and flows off the cookies, let it set a bit, until it’s firmer. It’ll feel like you’re piling on a lot of icing; that’s precisely the point!
11. Allow the icing to set completely, then store the cookies airtight in a single layer.
Baltimore Berger
