Bruce wrote:
> On Sat, 20 Jan 2018 17:32:11 -0700, graham > wrote:
>
> >On 2018-01-20 4:04 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> >> Tacos (crunchy corn tortillas).Â* I used ground pork rather than beef for
> >> the filling.Â* I used Sargento finely shredded four cheese "Mexican
> >> blend" cheese.Â* Note: if you put the cheese in the bottom of the warmed
> >> crisp tortillas before adding the other ingredients it is less likely to
> >> break and make a mess.
> >>
> >> I don't have tacos very often but I was in the mood for something quick
> >> and easy.Â* Hit the spot nicely!
> >>
> >> You?
> >>
> >> Jill
> >Bacon wrapped scallops to start
> >Roast loin of pork with roasted vegetables and hasselback potatoes.
> >Apple pie with crumble topping and custard.
> >Blue Mountain (B.C.) pinot noir to drink.
> >Graham
>
> I've never seen or heard of Canadian wine.
Yer a git...
I once tasted Dutch wine.
> It tasted like a liquefied mouse nest. But it's supposed to be getting
> better due to global warming.
Northern Europe was once a thriving wine growing region...in fact England during Roman times produced lotsa wine...then the "Little Ice Age" occurred, and wine production plunged:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age
'Viticulture disappeared from some northern regions and storms caused serious flooding and loss of life. Some of them resulted in permanent loss of large areas of land from the Danish, German, and Dutch coasts.
Northern Hemisphere
....
Europe
The Frozen Thames, 1677
The Little Ice Age brought colder winters to parts of Europe and North America. Farms and villages in the Swiss Alps were destroyed by encroaching glaciers during the mid-17th century.[21] Canals and rivers in Great Britain and the Netherlands were frequently frozen deeply enough to support ice skating and winter festivals.[21] The first River Thames frost fair was in 1607 and the last in 1814; changes to the bridges and the addition of the Thames Embankment affected the river flow and depth, greatly diminishing the possibility of further freezes. Freezing of the Golden Horn and the southern section of the Bosphorus took place in 1622. In 1658, a Swedish army marched across the Great Belt to Denmark to attack Copenhagen. The winter of 1794€“1795 was particularly harsh: the French invasion army under Pichegru was able to march on the frozen rivers of the Netherlands, and the Dutch fleet was fixed in the ice in Den Helder harbour.
Sea ice surrounding Iceland extended for miles in every direction, closing harbors to shipping. The population of Iceland fell by half, but that may have been caused by skeletal fluorosis after the eruption of Laki in 1783.[22] Iceland also suffered failures of cereal crops and people moved away from a grain-based diet. The Norse colonies in Greenland starved and vanished by the early 15th century, as crops failed and livestock could not be maintained through increasingly harsh winters, but Jared Diamond has suggested they had exceeded the agricultural carrying capacity before then. Greenland was largely cut off by ice from 1410 to the 1720s.
....
In his 1995 book the early climatologist Hubert Lamb said that in many years, "snowfall was much heavier than recorded before or since, and the snow lay on the ground for many months longer than it does today."[25] In Lisbon, Portugal, snowstorms were much more frequent than today; one winter in the 17th century produced eight snowstorms. Many springs and summers were cold and wet but with great variability between years and groups of years. Crop practices throughout Europe had to be altered to adapt to the shortened, less reliable growing season, and there were many years of dearth and famine (such as the Great Famine of 1315€“1317, but that may have been before the Little Ice Age). According to Elizabeth Ewan and Janay Nugent, "Famines in France 1693€“94, Norway 1695€“96 and Sweden 1696€“97 claimed roughly 10 percent of the population of each country. In Estonia and Finland in 1696€“97, losses have been estimated at a fifth and a third of the national populations, respectively."[28] Viticulture disappeared from some northern regions and storms caused serious flooding and loss of life. Some of them resulted in permanent loss of large areas of land from the Danish, German, and Dutch coasts.
The violin maker Antonio Stradivari produced his instruments during the Little Ice Age. The colder climate is proposed to have caused the wood used in his violins to be denser than in warmer periods, contributing to the tone of his instruments. According to the science historian James Burke, the period inspired such novelties in everyday life as the widespread use of buttons and button-holes, knitting of custom-made undergarments to better cover and insulate the body. Fireplace hoods were installed to make more efficient use of fires for indoor heating, and enclosed stoves were developed, with early versions often covered with ceramic tiles.
The Little Ice Age, by anthropology professor Brian Fagan of the University of California at Santa Barbara, tells of the plight of European peasants during the 1300 to 1850 chill: famines, hypothermia, bread riots and the rise of despotic leaders brutalizing an increasingly dispirited peasantry. In the late 17th century, agriculture had dropped off dramatically: "Alpine villagers lived on bread made from ground nutshells mixed with barley and oat flour." Historian Wolfgang Behringer has linked intensive witch-hunting episodes in Europe to agricultural failures during the Little Ice Age.'