The team at Bellflower would love to make your Thanksgiving dinner this year

I’m sorry that I haven’t been around much lately. Between working to get Biden elected, taking care of the kids, and helping to get an award-winning, five-star restaurant off the ground here in Ypsi, I just haven’t had time to engage in the debate over the rapidly imploding right wing conspiracy theory about Hunter Biden’s laptop, or whatever other nonsense people are talking about these days. With that said, I wanted to let you know that we’ve been listening to all of you who, over the course of the past two months, have asked for us to concentrate on our pick-up offerings here at Bellflower. While I can’t share too much at this point about what we have in store, I can tell you that we’ve perfected our smoked turkey recipe, and we’re now taking orders for Thanksgiving meals. Here, in case anyone is interested, is the basic package. [We have other, bigger packages that include more items, and larger quantities. You can find them outlined here.]

Thanksgiving Package 1: Half Smoked Turkey (5-6.5lb averages), Mashed Potatoes (32 oz), Turkey Giblet Gravy (16 oz), Milk Bread Custard Stuffing (10” pie tin), Cranberry Chow Chow (8 oz), 2 Milk Bread Po’ Boy Rolls, Green Bean Casserole (10” pie tin), and Apple Cobbler (10” pie tin) …$98

It’s a good value, and I’m super proud of our team for putting it together. I know that a lot of you, due to health concerns, still aren’t eating out, and, as that’s the case, I haven’t talked much about the restaurant here. I didn’t want to post photos of the food, or the reviews, and, in doing so, encourage people to come out who might otherwise be quarantining at home. I understand that eating out isn’t for everyone, even in the most responsible restaurants, and I didn’t want to encourage people to do anything that they weren’t comfortable with, or might later regret. And, if I started posting photos like this, I knew that’s what would likely happen.

While we have outdoor seating, an open kitchen, and follow all of the state health guidelines to the letter, I just didn’t want to encourage people to come out until we had a system in place that would allow them to pick up food in a contactless manner, etc. Now that we’re making headway in that direction, though, I feel better about sharing a little more about what we’re doing at Bellflower.

A few weeks ago, we opened up our online wine shop, featuring a few dozen bottles — many of which are under $20 — selected by our sommelier, Jenn Lucier. [If you’re interested, I’ve posted an interview with Lucier on the restaurant’s website, which I’ve been making a lot of content for.] Well, the orders have been going well. [Thank you to everyone who has bought a bottle so far.] And now we’re working on our packaged food offerings. In fact, based on the response we’ve received thus far from the community, we just decided to invest in an enormous smoker, which is going to allow us to do more in that area. It’s still too early to talk about things like weekly dinners and the like, but I wanted to post something today, letting you know that we’ve entered into an agreement with a turkey farm to supply free-range, all-natural birds for the holiday, and we’re now taking orders.

Anyway, if you’ve been hearing from your friends and neighbors about how damn good dinner is at Bellflower, but you haven’t felt like coming in, now’s your chance to see for yourself. Our team has gone all out and created a terrific, affordable menu for Thanksgiving, and I’m super proud of them. So, if you’ve wanted to see what all the fuss is about, here’s your chance. And, of course, you can still stop by during lunch for one of our sandwiches. Just be sure to come early, as we’ve been selling out by 2:00 or so each day. [We serve our sandwiches on milk bread rolls we make ourselves, and we only make 100 loaves a day.]

OK, I guess that’s if for now…. I just wanted to let you know that, if you weren’t heading home for the holidays to see your extended family, there was now a really, really good local option. And I mean that sincerely. I have never in my life had the pleasure to work with a team like I’ve been working with these past two months at Bellflower. Every day they set the bar for professionalism and quality, not just in Ypsilanti, or in Washtenaw County, but in the entire state of Michigan. The food we produce every day, and the level of customer service that we’ve been able to maintain, is truly spectacular… which is why, I suspect, that, as of right now on Google, 83 of our 87 reviews are five-star reviews. We are doing truly incredible work here, and I’m so happy to finally be able to share it with all of you, and not just those of you who feel like eating out at a restaurant.

If you’d like to order a Thanksgiving meal, and see what Bellflower is all about, just click here.

Oh, I should also mention that Jenn Lucier, not to be outdone by our cooking team, has put together three wine bundles for Thanksgiving. Here’s what she has to say about the first one, which includes a 2018 Krone Brut Sparkling Pinot Noir from South Africa, a 2018 Château Les Miaudoux Sauvignon Blanc from France, and a 2017 Zantho Blaufränkisch from Austria. “Our 3 bottle bundle gives you the perfect curated package to accompany your Thanksgiving feast. The Krone Brut Sparkling Rosé calls for a celebration with its festive bottle and a bright nose bursting with notes of red berries and buttery biscuits. Let it stand on its own, or drink throughout the meal, it will compliment everything from the turkey and stuffing to baked fruit and pastry with dessert,” she says. “Vegetable side dishes (or main courses!) will be highlighted by the flavors of stone fruits, minerality, and hint of spice found in the Château Les Miaudoux Bergerac Blanc, and nothing pairs better with turkey and gravy than a Blaufränkisch. This vibrant, fruit-forward red wine with flavors of cranberries, black currants, baking spices and subtle smokiness will accentuate your holiday bird no matter the preparation!” The three bottles are just $60, and you can order them from the Thanksgiving menu in our online store.

One last thing, as long as I’m praising members of the team… The loaves of Ypsilanti Rye that our baking team produced last week sold out not just here at Bellflower, but in both Argus Farm Stop stores in Ann Arbor. As a result, we’re baking even more this week. If you’re interested, stop by Argus on Sunday.

Posted in Ann Arbor, Food, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

To use my friend Jennifer’s phrase, Trump came across like a little, tiny “titty baby” on 60 Minutes tonight

How this incredibly small, sad, fragile excuse for a man could get even 1% of the vote is absolutely beyond me.

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | 20 Comments

After months of the President promising that COVID-19 would just “disappear,” the White House Chief of Staff concedes, “We’re not going to control the pandemic”

Yesterday, as you can see in the above graphic from Detroit Channel 4, 3,338 new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in Michigan, far exceeding anything we’ve seen during the earlier waves of the coronavirus pandemic. As our current fatality rate in the state is 4.7%, that essentially means that 157 Michiganders were told yesterday that they were going to die from a contagious disease that we could have stopped. [The county-specific data isn’t as current, but we know that Washtenaw County saw 84 new confirmed cases during the 24 hour period ending This past Thursday at 11:00 AM.]

On CNN’s State of the Union this morning, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said that there was nothing we could do to stop the spread of the disease at this point. “We’re not going to control the pandemic,” he conceded. This, of course, comes in sharp contrast to the many statements that Donald Trump has made over the past nine months about how the infectious respiratory disease was just going to magically “disappear.” Here’s Meadows talking with CNN’s Jake Tapper.

As for Trump, he still isn’t admitting the obvious. Yesterday, he was telling his followers on the campaign trail that the reason we’re seeing more COVID deaths in America isn’t because the disease is spreading, but because “doctors get more money, and hospitals get more money” when they say that people die from COVID, instead of from the other co-morbidities they might have had. And, of course, during last Thursday’s final presidential debate, he once again pushed for the full re-opening of public life in Michigan, saying that our state was “like a prison,” just because our governor has taken rudimentary steps to slow the spread of the deadly disease — rudimentary steps, by the way, that have made her the target of a kidnapping and assassination plot in the wake of the President’s demand that patriots “liberate” Michigan from her control. Here’s Trump on the campaign trail yesterday, spreading lies about the severity of COVID-19.

And, in spite of the current surge of cases in Michigan, Donald Trump has yet another rally planned in Lansing this coming Tuesday, where, no doubt, he will continue to lie about the disease that is spreading across the nation, killing our friends and family members. [Governor Whitmer has asked that he cancel it.]

All Trump had to do was listened to scientists, and urge the American people to wear masks in public. Instead, he chose to lie, push back against the advise of public health professionals, and politicize the wearing of masks. And, as of right now, over a quarter million American citizens are dead as a result. [As of today, 230,123 Americans have died from Coronavirus.]

Here, to end on a less depressing note, is what Kamala Harris, who spoke at Triumph Church in Detroit this morning, had to say about the virus. “Even in this moment of trial and testing,” she said, “I see people who are filled with strength and purpose… people who reject the notion that we cannot control this virus.

Here, speaking of Harris, is what she had to say about Trump’s handling of the pandemic upon landing in Detroit this morning.

Now please go out and vote, folks. And ask everyone you know to do the same. It’s too fucking important to sit this one out. We owe it to our children, parents, and grandparents to see this ugly chapter of American history brought to a decisive end.

Posted in Health, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

The Republicans attempt to jam through Amy Coney Barrett as the nation burns and Giuliani fondles himself

It’s hard, when presented with a story about Trump campaign surrogate Rudy Giuliani being caught on tape fondling himself in the presence of a young woman in a hotel room, to focus on anything else. Sadly, though, there are even more obscene things taking place in America at the moment. This morning, with the election just 12 days away, and another 1,170 Americans dead from COVID-19, the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to advance Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination for the Supreme Court, setting things in motion for a confirmation vote in front of the full Senate early next week. This happened in spite of a Democratic boycott of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote, previous assurances on the part of Republicans that they would not advance a Supreme Court nominee in an election year, and the fact that Barrett, who once served as a “handmaid” in the controversial Christian group People of Praise, and couldn’t even name the five freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment, was just discovered to have been a trustee at a private school that did not allow gay and lesbian teachers.

There are literally over 1,000 Americans dying each day, and the Republicans, instead of taking action to save lives, and provide economic relief to those who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, are focused on pushing though a candidate that will almost assuredly vote against women’s reproductive rights and the expansion of health care under the Affordable Care Act.

As you look up the contact information for your senators, so that you can send them letters demanding that they not push through the Barrett nomination just days before the presidential election, I wanted to share the following tweets from Adam Schiff and Chuck Schumer on what’s unfolding right now in Washington.

The Republicans like to talk a lot about “court packing,” and how it’s the Democrats, and not them, who are guilty of it. But what we’re seeing now is the very definition of court packing. Knowing that the American people are days away from sweeping the thoroughly corrupt Trump administration from power, and pounding the final nail into the coffin of their political party, the Republicans are hell bent on scoring one more big win against women, minorities, and the working men and women of America. And we cannot allow it to happen. We have to fight back.

[As for the incident which culminated with Rudy Giuliani being caught on tape touching himself, here’s the context from The Guardian, explaining how it came to be that Trump’s personal attorney came to be lured into a hotel room by the producers of Sacha Baron Cohen’s new “Borat” film. “Following an obsequious interview for a fake conservative news programme, (Giuliani and the young actress) retreat at her suggestion for a drink to the bedroom of a hotel suite, which is rigged with concealed cameras,” The Guardian reports. “After she removes his microphone, Giuliani, 76, can be seen lying back on the bed, fiddling with his untucked shirt and reaching into his trousers. They are then interrupted by Borat who runs in and says: ‘She’s 15. She’s too old for you.’” There are a million different things to be said, but I keep coming back to the thought of just how easy it must be for countries like Russia to blackmail men like these.]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Health, Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Driven by University of Michigan students, COVID-19 cases spike in Washtenaw County

We are seeing a serious increase in COVID-19 cases here in Washtenaw County. As MLive reported on Monday, we went from “200 cases the week of October 4-10 to 433 new cases the week of October 11-17, making our county one of the worst in the state when it comes to transmission of the deadly respiratory disease.

On Monday, the Washtenaw County Health Department reported that, as of that date, we had seen 4,229 laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county, and 119 deaths. As of yesterday, the number of confirmed cases had grown to 4,301.

Here, from the Washtenaw County Health Department, is the graph showing the number of new cases by week, since the first person was diagnosed with the disease in February.

As for why we’re seeing a surge now, it would appear that we have the University of Michigan to thank for a good deal of it. As the Detroit News reported yesterday, “More than 600 confirmed and probable cases had been reported in the county since Oct. 12, and 61% — or 366 cases — are connected to U-M students living on or off-campus, many in congregate or group settings.”

With 61% of the recent cases being connected directly to U-M students, the Washtenaw County Health Officer Jimena Loveluck moved yesterday to impose a “stay in place” order fro all undergrads at the university. You can read the entire “stay in place” order on the Washtenaw County website, but here’s an excerpt.

PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC STAY IN PLACE ORDER FOR UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN STUDENTS

The Washtenaw County Health Officer issues this Order pursuant to the Michigan Public Health Code, MCL 333.2235, 333.2433, 333.2451 and 333.2453 as it has been determined in collaboration with the University of Michigan that COVID-19 poses an imminent danger to public health and it is necessary to protect the public health from further spread of COVID-19 within Washtenaw County.

…University of Michigan began moving students onto its Ann Arbor, Michigan (Washtenaw County) campus housing on August 24, 2020 and resumed in-person hybrid instruction shortly thereafter pursuant to stringent COVID-19 distancing, mitigation and testing protocols;

As of October 19, 2020, there were 4,229 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in all of Washtenaw County since the beginning of the pandemic;

Despite the efforts of Washtenaw County Health Department (WCHD), and many in the U-M community, there have been more than 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases among students at the U-M Ann Arbor campus since the start of the fall semester;

There is current evidence that activity at or near the Ann Arbor campus is driven by social gatherings that do not adhere to the MDHHS epidemic orders and WCHD public health orders allowing indoor gatherings of no more than 10 individuals, with face coverings and a sustained distance of 6 feet or more between persons;

COVID-19 cases among 18-24 year-old persons, thus far in Washtenaw County, have not resulted in increased hospitalization or death rates. Additionally, thus far, the increased incidence in 18-24-year-old persons has not been linked to increased incidence in other populations in Washtenaw County. Additional preventive efforts are necessary to ensure that this remains so…

So, more than 1,000 of the University of Michigan’s 31,000-some undergraduates have tested positive for the virus, but, as of right now, there does not appear to be a link to suggest that they are spreading the disease to others in Washtenaw County. And this new stay at home order, according to Loveluck, was intended to stop that from happening. “The situation locally has become critical, and this order is necessary to reverse the current increase in cases,” Loveluck was quoted as having said yesterday. “We must continue to do what we can to minimize the impact on the broader community and to ensure we have the public health capacity to fully investigate cases and prevent additional spread of illness.” [U-M officials have also said that they stay in place order will help them to better do contact tracing.]

Of course, there are many who anticipated this very eventuality. As you may recall, the members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization, for instance, struck earlier this summer in response to the University’s plans to reopen, which they argued at the time would put not only themselves, but the wider community, at serious risk. Here, with more on that, is an excerpt from today’s Detroit News.

…The president of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents graduate student instructors and lecturers at UM, criticized the university’s handling of the pandemic in a tweet Tuesday.

“This is what happens when higher education institutions put their financial needs above the safety needs of the community,” Randi Weingarten wrote on Twitter.

In a statement, Graduate Employees’ Organization 3550, which launched the graduate student instructors’ strike, also slammed UM for its response to the pandemic.

“This stay-in-place order supports what students, faculty, and staff have been saying since May: that the plans that were developed and then implemented were not enough to avoid a crisis on U-M’s Ann Arbor campus,” the union said…

As others have pointed out, while the University did have plans to minimize unsafe contact between students, they didn’t really have any mechanism though which to enforce them. And, as there was no real penalty for acting irresponsibly, a good number of U-M undergrads continued doing what they’ve always done, which is acting irresponsibly. And it doesn’t look good for the University, which, also, by the way, has decided to still move forward with the football season.

I still have questions about the consequences for students now, if they’re found to be in violation of the county stay at home order, and to what extent U-M is focused on enforcement, but I guess we’ll know soon enough, as the numbers will tell us how seriously they’re taking this. I’m also curious as to what procedures students will have to go through before they’re allowed to leave Ann Arbor, and head back to their homes, assuming they want to do that. It was bad enough when the University decided to bring in thousands of students from around the world, to Ann Arbor, during a pandemic, possibly bringing in the virus from places where the COVID-19 had spread more aggressively. It’s probably even worse, though, sending infected students back out into the world, taking the disease back with them to their families.

As for how this public health order will effect U-M students, they will be required to say in their residences, unless they are in class, getting food, or doing work that cannot be done remotely, between now and 7:00 AM on November 3. And the University is apparently working to ensure that more of their classes are being taught remotely. According to UM spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald, while 80% of UM’s undergraduate credit hours were already being delivered remotely, the University is working to get that number to 90%.

Oh, and since we’re just about a dozen days away from the election, let’s not forget that Donald Trump told us repeatedly that this disease would just “vanish”.

Posted in Ann Arbor, Health, Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 39 Comments

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