The Press-Dispatch
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Rising food prices due to Invasion of Ukraine Pike County Extension news By Alex Mahrenholz, Extension Educator To enter the Birthday Club, fill out the form at www. pressdispatch.net/birthday. Only the person's name, town and birthday will appear in the paper. As an added bonus, one lucky person each month will receive a free six month Press-Dispatch subscription. THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS Alexander Eversoll ..................... Germany ............ 3/17 Brian Houtsch ........................... Petersburg ........... 3/17 James Houtsch ............................. Otwell .............. 3/17 Stacey Wilson ............................ Petersburg ........... 3/17 Sylvia Potter Stone .................. Oakland City ......... 3/18 Hunter Allen ..............................Evansville ........... 3/18 Roger Palmer ........................... Washington .......... 3/18 Delmar Garretson ...................... Petersburg ........... 3/19 Kenneth Smith ............................. Benton ..............3/22 Rick Jones ..................................Evansville ...........3/22 THIS MONTH'S SPONSOR The Press Dispatch PIKE COUNTY'S NEWS NETWORK 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg 812-354-8500 • www.pressdispatch.net GARLIC GARLIC BUTTER SHRIMP BUTTER SHRIMP By Jennifer Vallee Living in a landlocked state, the probability of finding fresh seafood of any quality is rather bleak. Because I have never eaten truly fresh from the ocean seafood, I definite- ly have no idea what I am missing. I do, however, know that shrimp is one of the tastiest things I have ever put in my mouth and I can't imagine ever getting tired of it. That said, it is something that may be a bit daunting for home cooks. It is tender and delicious when cooked cor- rectly, but can easily turn to tiny bits of shoe leather if overcooked. Once mastered, the shrimp becomes a quick and easy meal option for anyone that wants to eat well, but doesn't have a lot of time to accomplish a full meal. It takes only a couple of minutes per side to get the shrimp fully cooked, freeing you up for other things that you need to do. It also meets the requirements of a Friday Lenten meal. Paired with pasta or rice and a side salad, it becomes a quick meal for busy nights, but still special enough to serve up when you have a night in. Shrimp can be expensive for larger families, so let your budget decide how often you indulge in this dish, but to be sure, it is worth every penny. This recipe will serve 4. Enjoy! INGREDIENTS • 1 pound large shrimp, deveined (peeled or unpeeled) • 3 garlic cloves • ½ teaspoon kosher salt • 3 tablespoons butter • 2 lemon wedges • Fresh cilantro or parsley, for garnish DIRECTIONS 1. If frozen, thaw the shrimp. (Shrimp can be thawed by placing in refrigerator overnight or submerging in a bowl of cold water and stirring every 5 minutes to break apart clumps of shrimp. This should take about 15 minutes) 2. Mince the garlic. 3. Pat the shrimp dry. In a medium bowl, mix the shrimp with the garlic and salt. 4. In a large skillet, heat the butter on medium high heat. Cook the shrimp for 1 to 2 minutes per side until opaque and cooked through, turning them with tongs. 5. Spritz with juice of the lemon wedges and serve im- mediately. Source: acouplecooks.com My So Called Millennial Life By Stephanie Hayes A guide to crypto, NFTs and the Metaverse As humans try to get by in 2022, we must be conversant in global affairs, the former Soviet Union, mRNA vaccines, cli- mate change, "culture wars," giant inva- sive spiders, baseball lockouts, "Eupho- ria," governors gone wild and whatever is going on with Kanye West. When the inevitable topics of crypto- currency, NF Ts or the metaverse come up, it is too much! My instinct is to re- treat, the way a catfish burrows into a mud hole. But refusing to engage is be- coming impossible. We, as citizens, need knowledge of this byzantine taxonomy just to consume news. To study up, I went to Crypto Street Restaurant, a restaurant on Clearwa- ter Beach, Florida. Menu items include the "Blockchain Club," the "Dogedog," and... um, the "Cheeseburger." I or- dered a "Nutty Protocol Salad," bless- ed with a heroic amount of cheese. The cheese bodes well for crypto! Surround- ed by meme dogs, day trading "candle patterns" and Jeff Bezos quotes, I read everything I could as tourists slumped past with beach chairs. If you are into crypto, the following will merely annoy you. If you are like me, this beginner's guide will not even perforate the surface of ignorance. Every crypto definition requires three more definitions and a dictionary. Learning the language of the future internet is a full-time hob- by, like writing "Twilight" fan fiction or gently playing oboe out a city window. —What is cryptocurrency? It is currency that exists solely on the internet. Varieties include Bitcoin, Ethe- reum and two (!) featuring a shiba inu. People can exchange old-fashioned dol- lars for cryptocurrency on trading plat- forms. Opinions on this range from "this is the future" to "this is basically Bean- ie Babies." —Is it unregulated? Mostly, though regulation efforts are ramping up, like when sum- mer camp had to station an extra counselor in Cabin Six. All transactions hap- pen on the decentralized blockchain. What is the $&# percent blockchain? You're in luck, because this definition was on a post- er below the purse hook in the ladies' room. In translation, the block- chain is a digital ledger where no one au- thority has control. Much like my emo- tional landscape. Is this... real? What is real? Is money real, or does it just become real when enough people agree it's real? Furthermore, are we liv- ing in a simulation? I will now repeated- ly stroke the side of my face and grap- ple with existence. We are five questions in, and nothing makes sense. This is go- ing aces! Speaking of simulations, what is the metaverse? The metaverse is a 3D version of the in- ternet where avatar people can meet up and hang out. Isn't that just The Sims? I am 90 percent sure. OK, anyway, what is an NF T? "Non-fungible tokens" turn digital ob- jects like art, memes, tweets and, oh My- lanta, newspaper columns, into assets. Proponents say NF Ts give artists control of their work. On "The Tonight Show," Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton compared their NF T cartoon apes while the audi- ence laughed nervously and transformed into catfish. Celebrities, eh? Stars love crypto. Kim Kardashian, Tom Brady, LeBron James, Matt Da- mon, Gwyneth Paltrow. Basically all ce- lebrities. Reese Witherspoon tweeted: "In the (near) fu- ture, every person will have a parallel digital identity. Av- atars, crypto wallets, digital goods will be the norm. Are you planning for this? " This filled me with an abiding apocalyptic dread, the oppo- site of Reese's usual iced tea vibe! Dare anyone naysay? Ben McKenzie, whom millennials know as troubled hunk Ryan Atwood on "The O.C.," hates crypto. As he once held a dying Marissa Cooper in his arms, he now cradles a new mission: telling ev- eryone crypto is a scam. In the most interesting career change since Vanil- la Ice became a house flipper, McKen- zie is writing a book with journalist Ja- cob Silverman. He says celebrities have no clue what they're promoting. He told The Cut, "All I really care about is that people who can't afford to lose the mon- ey don't lose it." Did you pay for your salad in crypto? I used American Express. But the restaurant does accept crypto, if you are sitting on a pile of Doge and hankering for a "To The MOOOONNN! " brownie sundae. Do you understand crypto now? No. Did you know a catfish can survive bur- ied in mud for a year? Inspiring! Stephanie Hayes is a columnist at the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. Follow her at @ stephhayes on Twitter or @ stephrhayes on Instagram. Sweet's Column By Barb Sweet The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, March 16, 2022 D-5 812-582-2486 Hi stars and welcome to the big stage all lit up in green and white lights and dec- orated to help celebrate with all our stars who will have a birthday or anniversary in the week of March 17-23. Come up on- to this stage and take a bow. BIRTHDAYS March 17-Lindsey Nixon turns 25; Mor- gan Moll turns 24; Pat Vinnedge; Stacey Taylor turns 48; Aaron Bellamy turns 51. March 18 -Brian Meyer turns 60. March 19 -Britni Meyer turns 32. March 20 -Wendell McGehee; Kinley Nixon turns 12; Natisha Lynn Slunder; Clifton Gish turns 39; Zack and Amanda Vickers celebrate 14 years. March 21-Sidney Crane turns 19; Son- dra Erwin Rainey turns 62; Jean Lane turns 60 ; Jesse Nixon turns 42; Kyle Mills turns 33; Latisha Bennet Dillman turns 33; Yulin Cummins; Bill McKinney turns 72. March 22-Wesley McLain turns 31; Al- ice Altmeyer turns 51; C. J. Coleman turns 23; Chris Radford. March 23-Louis Russo; Bill Meece turns 70 ; Sherry Stewart turns 65; Bud and Frieda Bolin will celebrate another year. May all our stars have a really great day and may all your wishes come true. Keep in your heart and in your prayers all our stars who need that card, visit, phone call and that daily thought of them to have a better day. And also those that are going through surgeries, treatments, tests of all kinds, those with allergies, the aches and pains of everyday life, and those fighting for freedom. Thinking of Tim, Rosella, Katy, Benny, Annabel, Dix- ie, Lucy and Mike. EVENTS March 17-St. Patrick's Day- wear your green and maybe eat corn-beef and cab- bage. Winslow Lions Club meets at 6 p.m. at the Gamble House. March 20 -Spring Begins. March 28 -Winslow Town Hall at 6 p.m. April 1-April Fools Day. April 2- Open Fun Horse Show, at noon, at Rockin' G Saddle Club, south of Otwell junction. Contact Matt Gamble or Dallas Gamble for more information. This is the first event for this year, so come out and cheer for your neighbor. Winslow senior citizens are meeting on Monday and Tuesday at the Snyder Com- munity Center. Petersburg seniors meet in the courthouse basement. Send postcards and notes of interest to: Sweets Col- umn, Winslow, IN 47598. Winslow Patoka River had gone down to below the rim, but then rain came again and now the water is at the rim again. Other places along the Patoka has risen over the banks. The White River is also up again and you can see some fields still have lakes of water. Our temps were spring like in the 60s and 70s, but after the rain moved in on Sunday the 6th with strong winds, heavy rain, thunder and dangerous lightening; those temps dropped into the low 50s and the jacket was needed again. Trees are budding and in not too long those buds will ball and the leaves will ap- pear. Daffodils are up, and some are in full bloom along the roadways. Frogs can be heard near the wooded areas next to the streams of water. As you drive through Main Street, you will no longer see the Christmas wreaths decorating the light poles; they were taken down Wednesday the 9th, with help from Steve directing traffic. There is a gaggle of geese on a pond near Princeton, just swimming in the sunshine. We were off to Princeton when we came upon the I69 south ramp, off Ind. 64, where we saw several police cars, ambulance, firetruck and a tow truck with a cable line stretching down the big ditch, hooked onto a vehicle not seen. We couldn't see any other vehicle, and hav- en't heard what went wrong. Hope they are OK. Then on down the road towards Francisco, the barricades are up again. So we took the back way around to the south, and then came back out onto highway 64. This detour is another phase to improve the streets in Francisco. Our Winslow Lions met on March 3 to begin our meetings and we had a great time together. We roared with joy to see all of us Lions together again from our short break apart. Lowell Thomas, from the Petersburg Lions, was there and had asked me to stand up as he presented me with a 15 year pin; Dee Warner also re- ceived a 15 year pin. Lowell said he loved the way I take the minutes in detail and the Winslow Lions agreed with him, yes , I'm the one who takes notes at the meet- ings. The Open Fun Horse Show begins on April 2, with us, the Lions Club, to serve at the conces- sion stand. Little Lucebra Ar- nold was there and she has the cutest cry. Have you all experienced the higher prices of gas? We knew this would happen, but to go from $ 3.39 the first of March to $4.09 on March 9 is almost too much for all of us to accept. However, if we have to travel we need to pay the price and do all our shopping in one day instead of when we need something. We took mom, Mildred, out for a ride to Mitchell, Ind. at the entrance of Spring Mill State Park. There you will see the Gus Grissom Memorial where we viewed pictures of him from his childhood home, report cards and other schooling that would bring him into the NASA pro- gram, as one of our astronauts. You can see the capsule he was in, as they orbited the Earth. Mom liked the memorial and the long trip back through Paoli, French Lick and back to Terri Ann's. In the low areas you could see where the streams and rivers had overflowed and some areas are still high. We saw Paoli Peaks with the snow on the hillsides. Norm was out by our woods where there is a ditch that has grown up with weeds and trees. Norm had to use a pair of sheers, a weedeater, then it became very ugly, as a chainsaw, mull, shovel and truck got involved. We had to wait a day for the rain to come, then we were able to see if the water flows much easier. And it does a great job of collecting the water, with not too many ponds in the lots. Got my new glasses and now I can see how grey my hair is and how everything around the area is so much clearer than before. Now to get used to the bifocal part to help me jot down notes and write those notes into words. My glasses have a glit- tered gold edge on top of the frames. They give me a new look with a splash of color. Winslow should get snow and low temps in the mid teens to 20s on Friday and Sat- urday, before rising again, so as the lights are about to dim for this week. Keep an eye on family and friends. Slow down and see all the wonders in your area. Always smile, wave and say "hi" to everyone you see this week. Welcome Spring! The Russian invasion of Ukraine con- tinues as do rising prices. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) es- timates that grain prices could increase up to 20 percent, which further increas- es already high food prices. Last week, FAO's preliminary assess- ment determined that up to 30 percent of Ukraine's winter wheat, corn, and sun- flower crops may not be planted or har- vested this year. With rising energy costs due to the war farm input costs will in- crease in the near term and could lead to lower input usage and depressed crop yields in 2022, resulting in "further up- side risk to the state of global food secu- rity in the coming years." The risk to the global supply of these staple commodities could dramatically impact food insecurity. The report esti- mates the number of undernourished or food insecure people worldwide would in- crease by 7.6 million people to 13.1 mil- lion people, depending on whether the shock to the supply is moderate or se- vere. As Ukraine is also a major producer of sunflowers, a reduction in the supply of sunflower oil would have a ripple ef- fect on the prices of other vegetable oils, the report says. "A cut in feed wheat and maize (corn) availabilities would similarly bolster pric- es of feed products. Combined, these fac- tors would drive livestock prices up, with the more feed-intensive poultry and pork sectors directly affected the most," the report said. FAO's assessment states that Ukraine and Russia "are among the most import- ant producers of agricultural commodi- ties in the world," accounting for 19 per- cent of the barley, 14 percent of the wheat and 4 percent of the corn produced glob- ally between the 2016 -17 and 2020 -21 crop years. Because these countries are so vital to the global supply of these and other com- modities, many agriculturists across the world were hoping for an ease on tensions in the grain market. However, on Mon- day, March 14, Russia enacted measures to temporarily ban grain exports and most sugar exports to ex-Soviet coun- ties. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order banning the export of white and raw sugar until Aug. 31, and banning wheat, rye, barley and maize ex- ports to Eurasian Economic Union states until June 30. European wheat prices rose drastical- ly on Monday after a news agency report- ed Mishustin's confirmed signature on the order banning grain exports. Amidst the current conflict, this was a somewhat unsettling move that many did not antic- ipate due to Russian wheat exports be- ing down by 45 percent since the start of the current July-June marketing season, because of a smaller crop, grain export taxes, and the export quota. Russia still has approximately six mil- lion of wheat to export before June 30 and with current escalations in the inva- sion of Ukraine, difficulties in planting, growing, harvesting, shipping, transport- ing and especially exporting grain are expected to continue well into the com- ing months and into the rest of the world.