Assessing My MayDay 2020 Lemon Meringue Pie

The lemon meringue pie I made Friday 5/1 (May Day) is a followup to the pies I made in March ("Assessing My Mid-March 2020 Lemon Meringue Pie" (article, video) and December ("Assessing My Christmas 2019 Lemon Meringue Pie" (article, video). Timing the pies on significant days makes it easier for me to remember when I made them.

May Day Not the Same as Mayday—MayDay a Nod to Both Terms

"History and Origin of May Day" provides background of the celebration of May 1—"celebration dates back to the days, even before the birth of Christ. And like many ancient festivals it too has a Pagan connection." The significant symbol is the maypole. "What Is May Day?" includes similar info but also describes the rise of the date's significance to worker issues in the 1800s. "May Day" further describes actions by American presidents Cleveland and Eisenhower pertaining to workers and observation dates.

As for mayday, "May Day" explains that it is a distress call and the phonetic reason for its pronunciation—"it sounded like 'm'aider,' a shortened version of the French term for 'come and help me.'" For fuller explanation, visit "What Does Mayday Mean?"

Mulling Over Differences Between This Pie and Previous Ones

For the previous two pies, I used frozen pie shells that came with their own pans. This pie shell was a refrigerated one that needed unrolling, then shaping into a pie pan before pricking and baking it. Pie tasted good, as the previous two tries.

The main oddity is fluid that I'd characterize as dewiness rather than weepiness. Instead of cutting the finished pie the same day, I stored it in a cake tote overnight. Next day (day 1), I noticed dew drops. Cutting and removing two slices showed the pan to be dry. For days 2 and 3, I'm guessing it's condensation in the pan where I'd previously removed slices.

I did butcher the slicing—maybe moreso than the other two. I should have dipped the knife into hot water first before cutting into the pie.

Homing in on the Possible REAL Reason(s) for Excess Fluid

I reviewed still images for all three pies, in addition to re-viewing the videos. At the time the pies came out of the oven, the pies looked good. After time of refrigeration, dew drops had formed.

• Christmas 2019 pie—I made it in the morning and had time to cool and serve slices that day. No dew drops (and fluid) until the day after. Dryness at cut slices indicate my fluid problems were actually dew. Although using food wrap for overnight day 1 and 2, new fluid (dewiness) developed.
• Mid-March 2020 pie—I started part of the process in the morning and completed it after lunch (interruption between pie filling and meringue slathering). Found info later that the hot filling helps cook the slathered meringue. Weepiness occurs because reheating the filling in the oven creates trapped condensation between the shell and the pan. Although using food wrap for overnight day 1 & 2, new fluid developed, I think from both baking process AND dewiness.
• May-Day 2020 pie—I made the pie after lunch; it took HOURS for cooldown. Decided to store it overnight in the cake tote, uncut. Dew drops the next day. Not a lot of fluid after slicing till subsequent days. Although using aluminum foil for overnight day 2 & 3, new fluid (dewiness) developed.

Resolving Excess Fluid for the Next Pie

I've seen several sites say to make a lemon meringue pie on low-humidity days. Maybe not willing to wait till winter, but could try to ensure sunny days.

I think the food wrap and foil storage methods don't seal the pie well enough to keep out surrounding refrigeration atmosphere. Two things I can do:

• Minimize the time that I have the pie out in room temperature before returning it to the refrigerator. Soooo, fewer pix next time!
• Use a smaller and more shape-appropriate container to enclose the pie. I'll set the pie my 9 1/2" springform cake pan (3" deep), and cover it with a snug tin lid. Lucky I managed to rustle them up!

Incidental Should-Does for Future Pie (Room for Improvement)

• Start and finish making the pie early in the day so it'll be ready to serve by early afternoon or right after dinner. Related: Cool baked pie on a rack for an hour, then refrigerate for further cooling till refrigerator temperature (4 hours or so).
• Cut with a sharp knife dipped in HOT water.
• Revisit sites and videos that show good meringue making for the following considerations:
  • Optimal stickiness of whipped meringue to beater blade(s)
  • Optimal time for adding sugar
  • Suggestions for egg white temperatures
  • Possible addition of cornstarch during meringue process
• Whimsical might-do—try Lemon Kool-Aid powder and water instead of lemon juice.

Resources

It's a big list. Several sites include similar pieces of advice, many pertaining to the meringue process, pie cooling, and pie storage. Visit the sites and come up with your own advisory list. (Duplicated info can help reinforce important points!) Maybe you'll have beginner's luck and make a perfect pie! I'm still not there yet, despite several tries over time!

• About as easy a recipe for a beginner as possible (3 eggs, 1/2 C lemon juice, info for using frozen shells or refrigerated dough)
• "Meringue Tips"
• "Mastering Meringue"
• "Science: The Magic of Meringue—Why Timing Matters When Whipping Egg Whites and Sugar"
• "How to Keep Meringue from Separating from the Crust"
• "How to keep meringue pies from getting soggy"
• "How to Prevent Meringue Pie Topping from Weeping"
• "Jim Coleman: How to stop that meringue from weeping"
• "Top 10 Tips for Lemon Meringue Pie"
• "Anna Olson’s 10 Secrets to Mastering Meringue Make Lemon Pie That Much Bette"
• "How to Neatly Cut Through Meringue"
• "How to Store a Lemon Meringue Pie (For Both Short and Long Term)"
• "How to Store a Lemon Meringue Pie"
• "Storing and Serving Cream Pies"

Deer Mama 2 B's

Best wishes to all the mamas and mamas-to-be! (This upcoming Mother's Day inspired me to create and publish this article and video.)

I recorded some deer 4/21. I noticed one that I was able to keep in view looked belly-rounded. Made a mental Post-It to look up doe pregnancy for possible time of year commonality. One of my curiosities was what a pregnant doe looked like.

My inquiry for Google images for "pregnant does" yielded images of pregnant women, no deer at all, guessing Google interpreted my image inquiry as pregnancy does and don'ts. Image Googling "pregnant deer" yielded lots of pregnant deer. (Whoa! Some images astounded me!) A Google image hit for "what does a pregnant deer look like" yielded similar images, many overlapping the previous image results.

Spotted and recorded some snippets of does 5/7. Most of the does looked svelte, but one or two looked slightly distended. Re-viewing the 4/21 clip helped with visual comparisons. My video includes both pregnant and non-pregnant does.

Curious about doe pregnancy and fawn birth? Lead-ups to the process? "How Long Are Deer Pregnant? [Gestation Period For Deer]" explains deer season regarding "rutting", mating, doe gestation, and a table of various deer types and number of days for pregnancy.

What's rutting? Why do we talk about being in a rut, a bad thing? Why does it seem that rutting is so often associated with deer?
"In a Rut - Breeding Season Behaviors in Deer" explains:

The term "rut" is often used to describe a boring, monotonous routine or a trench worn in the ground by a wheel. However, if you hang around much in white-tailed deer hunting circles, chances are that it means something completely different. Many people use the term rut only in reference to the peak of the breeding season, but it really applies to a much more extended period of time. The rut refers to all behaviors and activities associated with the breeding season.

Additional resources:

"Spotting" Whitetail Deer Fawns" states, "A doe goes into estrus in the fall, which means whitetail deer fawns are normally born sometime between late April and early July."

"Understanding Deer" provides more details about mom and fawns:

Spring and summer is the time of year deer give birth to their young. A deer may have between one and three babies, two being most common. Fawns are born from April though June. They are born with their eyes open and fully furred.

"HOW TO TELL IF THAT FAWN REALLY NEEDS YOUR HELP???" provides still more details, including emphasis to post-birth behavior.

As early as April, but most often in May and June, you may find a White-tailed Deer fawn curled up in your lawn, garden, bushes, or nearby field or trees. You may think it has been abandoned, but most of the time this is not the case. White-tailed does spend a small portion of the pre-dawn hours looking for a quiet, secluded spot to place their fawn(s) that are three weeks of age and under, as they will not be able to keep up with the doe’s pace.

For blog articles pertaining to deer, use search feature at the upper left of th4e website. For videos, go to my YouTube link for deer playlist (Oh, deer!)

DIY T-shirt Face Masks--No-sew and Single-seam Sew

As YouTube has loads of DIY face mask (aka face covering) videos, my video might be more for those of you who have only one or two masks, maybe as gifts. Maybe you want to ensure a fuller supply, simply, and by using items in your home. Consider that self-masking because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic might be necessary for awhile.

One of the clearest, easy-to-follow, no-sew, no-frills video is "How to Make Your own Face Covering", featuring Surgeon General Jerome Adams. His simple design is placing a rubber band near each end of a multi-folded, t-shirt bottom, folding the ends over once more, and looping the bands around the ears.

My no-sew version is minimalist—measure, cut, place rubber bands, and with way fewer folds than Dr. Adams shows. My single-seam other version neatens the design—turning the t-shirt "ring" wrong side out and stitching one seam. For either version, try wearing the mask with either edge towards the eyes or at the chin. The video shows how to create both versions.

Lemon Juice Aid 2, Cost Convenience Concentration

Previously in "Lemon Juice Aid 1, Let There Be Cake!", I wrote about the cake that I used lemon juice in yellow cake mix and vanilla frosting. This article addresses four lemon-flavor types—fresh-lemon juice, bottled lemon juice, lemon extract, and Kool-Aid.

Lemon Juice Cost/Convenience Considerations for Bottled, Fresh-squeezed

I probably have bought fresh lemons in the distant past, but don't remember when. I'm disinclined to deal with getting real ones, washing them, squeezing them, and measuring for juice amount. The pricing and convenience (less labor) of bottled juice appeals to me. However, I was curious about lemon juice yield in lemons.

"How Much Juice is in a Lemon? Get Easy Conversions for Your Recipe!" helps you determine number of lemons for amount of juice. Frinstance, "You need 4 medium lemons or 3 large lemons to get 1/2 cup of juice (4 ounces)." For visualization, "Here’s What 1 Pound of Lemons Looks Like" states "One pound of lemons is about four average-sized lemons, with average being a lemon you almost completely cover when holding it in your hand."

My supermarket lists single lemons for 49 cents each, and a 2-lb bag for $2.97. No listing for Realemon juice, but Target does—15 oz for $2.19.

Rough guess for cost of 4 oz portion of lemon juice (2 oz for cake modification, 2 oz for frosting modification):

• Lemons, $1.50 to $2. (You do get free zest.)
• Realemon juice from Target, ~60¢

Not making price comparisons from Amazon, as most are listed for large volume purchasing.

Concentrated Lemon Flavorings

I had run across info about lemon extract, which has concentrated lemon flavor. Having an additional extract bottle in the pantry doesn't appeal to me. Also, I'm not wild about considering dilution adjustments. Juice just seems less fussy. Amazon price listings took my breath away.

"Can Lemon Extract Be Used in Place of Lemon Juice?" info informs of the differences and cautions between lemon juice and extract:

Since lemon extract is much more concentrated in flavor than lemon juice, use only half as much lemon extract and add back in the rest of the liquid in the form of water. … in baked goods that use baking soda as the leavening agent, lemon extract won't provide the necessary acid that lemon juice does. … Never use lemon extract as a substitute for lemon juice in a beverage like lemonade or a lemon daiquiri because the sweetness and tartness will taste "off" and won't work properly.

Lemon essence and essential lemon oil are additional items that are concentrates. "Difference Between Lemon Essence and Lemon Extract" contrasts essence and extract, includes summary table. "How Do You Replace Extracts and Flavorings with Essential Oils?" provides usage for "essential oils, not to be confused with "essence" from the above wiki link's reference to "essence".

Lemonade Kool-Aid Powder

I have not yet tried unsweetened lemonade Kool-Aid powder for making cakes or pies, but I am intrigued. Each packet costs about a quarter, takes up very little room, and not perishable. "Kool-Aid Cake or Cupcake Recipe" looks uncomplicated—one packet for the cake, and one packet for the frosting.

As for lemon flavor pie, two recipes are nearly identical for ingredients (only four) and simple recipe instructions—"No Bake Lemonade Pie" and "Kool-Aid® Pie". Although the allrecipes version advises for various flavors, several commenters especially praise the lemon flavor pie.

Lemon Juice Aid 1, Let There Be Cake!

Make a lemon cake by adding lemon juice to non-lemon flavor cake mixture and vanilla frosting. The info is intended more for cake makers who've had a coupla cakes under their belts, so to speak. Novices might consider also reaching outside this article to get beginner info.

I've tended to buy "classic" yellow cake (good color, uncomplicated add-in ingredients), especially when they've gone on sale for 88¢ each. (Regular price for lemon cake mix tends to run about $1.40.) Spreadable frostings seem to all cost the same, so no savings between lemon and vanilla frostings (about $1.55 at my supermarket).

Some time ago, I'd made a round, 2-layer lemon cake w/lemon frosting using a 4-oz (1/2 C) bottle of lemon juice. My recollection was it cost 80¢. More recently, I've noted in a couple of previous articles about using lemon juice that was a freebie (15 oz bottle). I've used about 1 C for two lemon meringue pies. For this cake, I used 1/4 C for cake and 1/4 C for frosting.

Pre-preparation for Cake-bake Newbies

Before starting out, read all instructions on containers. (Cake boxes have instructions and table info for pan shapes and recommended baking times.) Items needed include measuring spoons, measuring cups, mixing bowls, mixer, spatulas, cake pans, potholders, cooling rack. Helpful options: Plate for putting implements on, spoons.

Cake pan preparation, for easy removal of baked cake from pan: Various methods, such as parchment paper, spray oil, flour sprinkled onto pans and tapping to distribute the flour. The following videos are good, short guides.

• "How to Prep a Cake Pan" shows oil/flour and oil/parchment paper methods with additional tips. (Should have also included paper removal.)
• "How to Line a Round Cake Pan Perfectly Every Time | Mad Genius Tips | Food & Wine" shows a quick parchment paper cutting method but doesn't mention oil.
• "How to Prepare Cake Pans" shows one pan only.

Ensure the oven racks are in position for cake pans, preheat the oven as directed on cake mix box (about 350° for 10-ish minutes).

Cake (Yellow) with Added Lemon Juice
I like using yellow cake mix because of its color and simplicity. Using white and butter-recipe cake mixes are more hassle, imho.

 Directions:

1. Add 1/4 C lemon juice into a measuring cup. Add enough water to total the amount called for in cake mix instructions.
2. Pour the fluid into a medium mixing bowl.
3. Add the required number of eggs and amount of oil into the bowl.
4. Lightly mix these wet ingredients using a hand mixer.
5. Pour cake powder into the wet mixture, mixing as box directs (30 sec on low, then 2 min medium), occasionally scraping w/rubber spatula.
6. Pour the mixture into two prepared cake pans. (Use different pan plan and timing as you want, following box guidelines.)
7. Bake for the duration recommended, starting with minimum time. Check for doneness as required.
8. When finished baking, remove and cool as the cake mix box instructs.

Vanilla Frosting with Added Lemon Juice

The steps in this section are in the past tense. I was glad to see that the juice did not affect the frosting (such as curdling it) because of frosting's tendency to include milk.

"What Happens to Milk When Lemon Juice Is Added?" states "If the milk is cold when the lemon juice is added, the chemical reaction does not happen for some time." Seems no chemical reaction occurred during the cake's existence (about 5 days in and out of refrigerator).

The extra liquid, however, made the mixture initially runnier than I expected. I added powdered sugar to re-thicken the frosting.

 Process (YMMV)

1. I deposited a 16-oz can of vanilla frosting into a mixing bowl roomy enough to stir in juice and powder sugar (for thickening).
2. Stirred in 1/4 C lemon juice. (Amazed to see runniness!)
3. Added 1/8 C powdered sugar, then more for total of 1/2 C.
4. Added 8 drops of yellow food coloring.

With extra frosting, I was surprised that I needed to carefully spread it as thin as I did to cover the cake. If I'd used canned lemon frosting, it might have cost the same as vanilla frosting, but I probably would have run out.

Assessing My Mid-March 2020 Lemon Meringue Pie

The lemon meringue pie I prepared Sunday 3/15 (Ides of March Day) is a followup to my pie I wrote about in "Assessing My Christmas 2019 Lemon Meringue Pie". I'd considered making it 3/14 (Pi Day), but maybe a bit too late for adequate cooling before serving.

Christmas 2019's "Room for Improvement" Reminders

I revisited parts in the "Room for Improvement" section to remind myself for the next pie try.

Reminder 1: The filling color was less yellowy than I expected.
Action: To make the filling more yellowy, I added 6 drops of yellow food coloring into the freshly prepared pie filling.

Reminder 2: The meringue was maybe too thin in a couple of areas near the crust edge.
Action: To avoid post-baked pie showing gaps at filling, I slathered the meringue more thickly near the pie edge.

Reminder 3: With so much time for the pie to cool and set, consider the pie to be a 6-hour process.
Action: After baking the meringue-covered pie, i cooled it for about an hour, then put it in a cake-taker into the fridge for about 4 hours more. (Too little cooling time, and the pie doesn't firm up for clean cutting.)

Reminder 4: Each time after cutting into the pie, I need to cover with plastic wrap, pressing out air from cut areas.
Explanation and action: This info referred to my Christmas pie's "weepiness" (wateriness), which occurred all four days of cutting and serving, dabbing the excess fluid between days. Wrapping after 3rd day cut/serve seemed to help prevent much weepiness for the next day. HOWEVER, this newer pie had weepiness issues all four days, even as I had plastic-wrapped each remainder portion. More about pie weepiness later.

This Pie's Good

The filling coloring came out nicely lemony looking. The meringue baked prettily and showed no gaps into the filling. As expected, the pie tasted yummy! I left plenty of time for pie cooling. As for Reminders 3 and 4, they're related to one major misstep, maybe two.

This Pie's Bad and Ugly

The weepiness (both bad and ugly) was a major disappointment. I went over my links from the Christmas pie article. Based on a couple of items from "Lemon Meringue Pie & Tips for Beginners", two actions I took contributed greatly to the liquidity (good for financial assets, bad for lemon meringue).

** Misstep: I had let the pie filling cool off before pouring it into the baked pie shell. I should not have squeezed in a non-pie task during the pie-making process. Future: Ensure no interruptions for future lemon meringue pie projects.

Advice from Meringue for Pie section:

Please make sure your filling is piping hot, fresh from the saucepan, when you pour it into the shell and add the meringue!! The filling has to be hot because the steam will travel up through the egg whites and cook the meringue from the bottom. If the filling has cooled, when the pie goes in the oven, the heat will heat up the filling and the steam will get trapped between the filling and meringue, creating a watery layer that causes the top and filling to separate.

** Misstep: I used plastic food wrap.

Advice from from Pie in Oven section:

When it’s browned to your liking, pull it out. I would let it cool for an hour or so before serving, but this is one of those pies that tastes best at room temperature on the same day it’s made. If it doesn’t get eaten all in one day, put it in the fridge loosely covered with foil. Plastic wrap will create too much moisture.

** Possible misstep: One other stage of the pie making that might have affected the pie quality. The pie shell had been zipper-locked in the freezer for a few months. When I brought it out to thaw in preparation for baking, I noticed a few hairline splits in the dough. Patched them with a few small loose dough lumps. After baking the shell, I noticed more hairline splits. I decided to use the shell anyway.

Room for Improvement

Overall project process: Consider the process to be a mission! Ensure no time breaks or interruptions.
Specifics:

• Try using a refrigerated pie shell that unrolls onto a pie pan, then fork-prick it and bake as instructed.
• Be sure the pie filling is hot when pouring it into the cooled and baked pie shell.
• For covering leftover pie, use aluminum foil, not plastic food wrap.

Future Pie

I have another 3 tablespoons of a 15-ounce bottle of lemon juice to use up. I'll consider making the next lemon meringue pie around April Fool's Day, Good Friday, Easter, May Day, .... My Room for Improvement section will help guide me.

This Pie's Title

I'd been thinking about making this pie for awhile, as the remaining pie shell didn't fit well in the freezer. However, other distractions and tasks kept surfacing. On Pie Day (3/14, aka 3.14), by the time I thought about making it, it was already mid-afternoon, a bit late for enough cooling time.

Sooo, maybe the next day? After also pondering Ides of March, March Madness, St. Patrick's Day, and Middlemarch for March significances, I decided on mid-March as a reasonable nod to calendar timing.

Some bites of March info:

• "A number of things to know on Pi Day" explains pi as a mathematical term and celebration of the number on March 14, along with the tasty edible.
• "Why beware the Ides of March?" has a lot to say—not good, depending on POV of knifers and victim.
• National Geographic's "St. Patrick's Day" provides an overall view of the holiday.
• "March Madness explained in 2 minutes" is helpful for a short explanation of fanmania over college basketball.
• "Middlemarch" has nothing to do with March, but is a story about a fictitious town in the middle of England.

Really Quick Mixed-flavor Pudding

First video is slide show; second video is motion.

Like creamy dessert without ice-cream chilliness? How about something convenient to make with few ingredients and implements? Pudding! You can customize for flavors and milks (fat-level content, lactose/lactose-free). Yogurt, custard, and soft-serve are additional creamy desserts without ice-cream chilliness, but this article is about pudding that uses instant pudding powder and milk.

My recent pudding batch used 2 4-serving boxes (chocolate, butterscotch) and 4 cups of 1% lactose-free milk. (Vary the ingredients as you'd like.)

Quick-glance Recipe Info

Use a mixing bowl and wire whip to combine (~90 to 120 seconds), occasionally scraping bowl sides. Pour the mixture into smallish jelly jars or 7-8 oz plastic or paper cups. Serve immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator.

Use a mixing bowl and wire whip to combine (~90 to 120 seconds), occasionally scraping bowl sides. Pour the mixture into smallish jelly jars or 7-8 oz plastic or paper cups. Serve immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator.

Because I think 4-oz servings are too small for my taste, I poured the mixture into 6 portions rather than 8. View videos (slide show) and (motion version) for the following step-by-step stages:

• Implements (bowl, wire whip, rubber spatula, small plate for holding the other three items)
• Ingredients (milk, pudding powder, optional chocolate chips)
• Process (assembling, mixing, mixture distributing, food-wrap covering, storing in refrigerator)

Caloric Considerations

Sugar free pudding powder has significantly fewer calories than regular powder. For an example, Jell-O Sugar Free Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix has 4 servings (powder only) at 25 calories each, but Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix calories is 90.

Milk comes in fat-free, whole, and in-between low-fat-percentage varieties. Various other milks are available, such as soy and almond. (I have no experience with non-cow milk myself.)

Lactose Considerations

Lactose-free milk is good for lactose-intolerant people. Lactaid is a big name, but Mootopia and store-brand clones are also available. Not all milk-fat lactose-free milks are always available. Calcium-fortified lactose-free milk might or might not be available where you shop.

Some instant milk powders contain milk products, which can cause discomfort for lactose-intolerant consumers. Jello brand does not. (Jello brand costs a bit more than house brand, if you're considering price.)

Pudding Powder Sizes and Varieties

Box size options at the store vary. Larger boxes don't seem to be double-servings of smaller boxes. For instance at my store, the larger Jello box (5.1 oz, $1.18) claims to serve 6, and the smaller Jello box (3.4 oz, $ .87) claims 4 servings. You can get some savings by buying the bigger box, but not hugely.

The serving sizes calculate out to about 1/2 cup milk for each serving. A 4-serving box calls for 2 cups of milk; a 6-serving box calls for 3 cups of milk.

My local supermarket hit list for pudding mixes shows vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, lemon, and butterscotch. By getting smaller boxes, it's easy to mix and match suitable flavors.

Additional Thoughts

You can, uh, think outside the boxes, and add chocolate chips (as I did) or crumble Oreos or other yummies onto (into?) the mix. The pudding's set within minutes of mixing.

For another pudding idea, visit "Minty Choco Chip Pudding".

Buck Bookended at 2019 End

At the end of 2019 (December, to be more specific), I shot three bucks. Two were within minutes of each other on the 9th, and the final one on the 29th. What do I mean about "bookended"? The first buck bookend for 2019 turns out to be "2019 New Year's Day Buck"(article, video).

Throughout the year, I'd spotted numerous deer--lots of does and fawns, but few bucks. One other buck ambled into view on October 28 (image also near the end of "Short Pre- TDay Deer Tracking" video). I was lucky that I had my camera with me, although I wasn't prepared enough to shoot video of him.

Thus far in 2020, have not captured many images/videos for animals and plants. Might be a combination of so far of not getting out a lot this year, and less flora and fauna activity compared to last year.

Looking Back for All-time Blogging

I started blogging in fall 2009. The table shows how number of articles and word count vary from then till the end of 2019. The scattergraph shows data points representing all the word counts of each article from first to last. A thick swath between 400 and 600 words indicates my favored word-count range. The word-count graph with year labels is another way to view word-count densities.

 

Closer Look at Word Counts

The high-word count graph shows more year-to-year variation than low-word counts. (The average and median don't look veer from each other by much.)

The all-time article word count stats:

High: 1701, Dec 30, 2019 ("Assessing My Christmas 2019 Lemon Meringue Pie")
Low: 114, Oct 12, 2019 ("Halloween Scenes Around")
Average 638 (all word counts added and divided by 258)
Median 587.0 (midpoint between high and low word count)

Coincidentally, 2019's stats match high and low word counts. However, 2019's average (568.0) and median (540.5) run lower. Explanation? High amount of videos and pictures in the articles that year. Also, becoming more involved with videos that are not associated with articles. More details farther down.

Another word-count related graph shows 1000+ word-counts more in the last half of my blogging history.

Topic

A somewhat challenging task I slogged through in preparing for this article was assigning a topic type. I've had stages of writing about recipes, info, music, some how-tos. When I started assigning labels, I had a conflict on whether a food recipe was food or how-to. After I tallied items, I found "food" to be a huge bucket, so I separated them between food and food recipe. As for "misc", I didn't see how to call them anything else.

A couple of standout categories by year are "plantlife" for 2013 and "buglife" for 2017.

Of the 24 articles in 2013, my "plantlife" topic was composed of my 16-week series about a triplet of century plants. I took pix when I first spotted them, and returned weekly for subsequent pix until the last one's demise. (Start with "Century Plant Triplets--Stalk Starts".

Of the 24 articles in 2017, most "buglife" articles were about insects, spiders, and cicadas. I titled 16 of them with a "Leggy Bugs". Open the links at the Blog Archive index (lower right side of blog window) for 2017 to view various buglife titles.

Graphics Type

Images show changing trends over time for topics, graphic type accompaniments. Word counts and number of blogs by the year might not be easy to infer. From 2014 on, I decided to publish twice a month, a pace of 24 annually. That quota contrasts with my annual output in 2010 (36), 2011 (12), and 2013 (32).

Initially had no or few images. Without giving much thought, I started providing images (some drawings, some stills), later providing videos. Several of my blogs include both images and video links.

My video toe-dipping year started in 2013 (1). I skipped doing any in 2014, and put out a paltry 3 in 2015. My 2016 and 2017 articles each included 9 video accompaniments. Although my articles for 2018 included only five video accompaniments, pix abounded aplenty.

Most Popular Article and Accompanying Video

My most popular article is "Stuck Blender Blade?", from October 2015, which might have cleared 4600 views by the end of 2019. Funny thing is that I created and uploaded the video, about three weeks later. By 2019 end, it was just 13 views shy of 24000. (It apparently cleared it late Jan 1 or sometime Jan 2.)

The Blogger stats for articles that match YT titles don't synchronize well for popularity—pretty much only the blender blade topic. Blogger views and YouTube view counts can vary wildly from each other.

More into YouTube

Last June, I started creating and uploading videos that didn't originally accompany articles. I called them "Eye-caught Snippets", totaling 13 by near the end of December. I did incorporate some of the snippets into article-associated videos. I'd consider most of the snippet videos topic buckets to be "deer", "buglife", or "plantlife".

---

Links to each article are at the Blog Archive index (lower right side of blog window.)

Looking Back for 2019 Blogging

As part of looking back on 2019, I also cast a backward look toward my entire blogging experience. More on the farther-back look (10+ years, from September 2009 to 2019) in Looking Back for All-time Blogging". The table shows stats for 2019 for each of the 24 articles (twice a month)—word count, topic, and graphics type. Links to each article are at the Blog Archive index (lower right side of blog window.)

Word Count

The Word Count column shows number of words for each of the articles in 2019.

High: 1701, Dec 30, 2019 ("Assessing My Christmas 2019 Lemon Meringue Pie")
Low: 114, Oct 12, 2019 ("Halloween Scenes Around")
Average 568.0 (all word counts added and divided by 24)
Median 540.5 (midpoint between high and low word count)

Topic

My most-viewed  topic was a toss-up between deer (5) and plantlife (5), followed closely by buglife (4). This was an extraordinary year for deer; I did not write at all about any in previous years. Maybe 2018's rains brought on all sorts of eatin's that attracted loads of deer and spawned fawns. The topic tally is as follows, from most to least:

deer, 5
plantlife, 5
buglife, 4
how-to, 3
food, 2
parody, 2
avian, 1
music, 1
seasonal, 1

Graphics Type

Videos and pix accompanied more than half the articles. Shot lots of deer, plantlife, and buglife. Plants were various, indicating 2018's rains were good to them. Buglife included mostly cicadas, amazingly, a prolific year for them.

Last June, I started creating and uploading videos that didn't originally accompany articles. I called them "Eye-caught Snippets", totaling 13 by near the end of December. I did incorporate some of the snippets into article-associated videos.

Assessing My Christmas 2019 Lemon Meringue Pie

I hadn't made a lemon meringue pie in, uh, lots of years. It tasted good, and looked mostly good before I started cutting into it. ("Wateriness" loomed large, which I'll discuss later.)

The driving force to make the pie was using up bottled lemon juice that I opened last month. (Used only 2 T with yellow cake batter for lemon cake variation.) During and after the pie project, pertinent thoughts popped up.

Lemon Juice Shelf Life

From "Does Lemon Juice Go Bad? Shelf Life & Expiration": "In the fridge, once opened, it can last up to six months."

Amount of Lemon Juice in a Lemon Meringue Pie

My main Google search term was “easy lemon meringue pie”. Most recipes I ran across called for 1/3 cup. One recipe that called for 1/2 cup of lemon juice was at allrecipes.com "Lemon Meringue Pie III". Pillsbury’s "Lemon Meringue Pie" also calls for ½ cup of lemon juice.

Pie Shell Type (Scratch, Frozen, Refrigerated, Graham Cracker Crust)

I bought ("Pillsbury™ Pet-Ritz™ Regular Pie Crusts". (Convenient that it supplied a recipe for lemon meringue pie.) Although I’d made pies last year with scratch crust, I wasn’t in the mood this time. Scratch ingredients are cheap, and you know what goes into the shells. However, scratch shells are labor-intensive. View “Cherry Pie—Section 2 of 3, Pie Dough Preparation”, which also includes a link to the blog article.

I chose frozen instead of refrigerated for handling convenience. The frozen shells come preformed with own pans. As for graham cracker pie crusts, I’d not considered them, but I know of recipes to make them. Furthermore, they are available pre-made with shell in baking aisles.

Lemon Pie Filling Complexities

I felt intimidated when recently reading the “pudding” process from several sources. Measurements, sequence of items, constant stirring, stovetop monitoring are crucial. I myself have used cornstarch-as-thickener process numerous time for many years, including past lemon meringue pies. After the process, I decided it wasn’t so difficult after all (again).

Cream of Tartar in Meringue

Meringue is mainly egg whites with loads of sugar and air. When it’s ready to use, it resembles shaving cream. Some recipes I ran across omit cream of tartar, some bakers advocate it wholeheartedly as a bubble stabilizer. Never heard of or used cream of tartar? "What Is Cream of Tartar—and What Can I Substitute for It?"states that it's "a byproduct of wine production, the residue left on the barrels".

From Foood52’s “For Perfectly Whipped Egg Whites (+ Lofty Meringues), Add a Little Pinch of This”

I use cream of tartar as a stabilizer in any recipe that calls for whipping egg whites, even when the recipe doesn’t call for it. I simply add 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar per cup of egg whites—or 1/4 teaspoon for every 4 egg whites—to the bowl with the egg whites before I begin whipping, and then proceed with the recipe as written. Some of my most respected colleagues use twice as much cream of tartar as I do, so you can choose how much to use.

Meringue Making

As a former newbie to meringue making, I was amazed at how much volume a few egg whites could expand to, with beating lots of air into them, and snowy white! It takes time! If you have a tilt-head mixer, that’s your friend to hold the beater up, and you need to add the sugar in spoonfuls for ensuring good sweetener distribution.

Several sites explain the process so you can see what ready meringue batches look like. Most bakers advocate spreading it onto poured pie filling while it’s warm or hot. At least one mentions a cool pie filling. They all stress spreading the meringue to the pie edge, totally sealing the filling.

Post-piebake Cooldown

Time ranges from one hour before cutting and serving to at least three. Some advice includes refrigeration. My lesson learned (sigh) is to be patient, wait long, and include a period of refrigeration before cutting. I had let it cool at room temperature for 2 ½ hours without refrigeration.

The Pillsbury frozen pie recipe states prep time of one hour, and total preparation time of five and a quarter hours. The cooling info says to cool completely; a subsequent sentence says to refrigerate about three hours, implying a room-temperature cooling time of 1 ¼ hours. Duh, I just noticed the online Pillsbury recipe "Lemon Meringue Pie" lists one hour for room temperature cooling.

"How to Cool & Serve Lemon Meringue Pie" provides explicit info for cooling and serving conditions.

Place the warm pie on a cooking rack for up to two hours. ... Refrigerate the pie for one hour if you prefer to serve it chilled. Make sure the pie has cooled to room temperature before refrigerating. Slice the pie in six or eight pieces with a sharp, thin-bladed knife. Make certain you cut all the way through the crust. If the lemon filling does not slice cleanly, you may need to cool your pie longer.

From delish.com's "Easy Lemon Meringue Pie"

The hardest part about this recipe is waiting for the custard filling to set. It takes a few hours and is 100% worth it if you're hoping to get a nice slice.

Cool completely, about 1 hour, then refrigerate until filling is set, 3 hours.

From once upon a chef's "Lemon Meringue Pie": "Let the pie cool completely on a rack before serving, about 3 hours."

Pie Wateriness, Weepiness, Sogginess

The initial wateriness was from the pie filling not setting fully—temperature and time. Served up two slices and spooned excess fluid. Refrigerated overnight; saw new excess fluid at cut area. Served up another two slices and spooned excess fluid. Third day, more of the same condition—new excess fluid at cut area. A few hours later, researched and found info about covering pie with foil or wrap. Did that, after I dabbed some already-developing fluid. Day four—success! Minimal excess fluid.

The useful info about covering pie came from "Food Storage - How long can you keep...LEMON MERINGUE PIE - BAKED"

Freshly baked lemon meringue pie will keep for about 2 to 3 days in the fridge; refrigerate covered loosely with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.

"How to keep meringue pies from getting soggy" reiterates cooldown and refrigeration timings.

Refrigeration makes meringue weep more quickly, so let the pie stand at room temperature in a draft-free spot before serving it. After a few hours, however, it will need to be refrigerated.

"Prevent Weeping Meringue" states "Weeping occurs as moisture begins to slowly seep out of the meringue layer and ruin both the look and therefore the appeal of this otherwise delightful creation."

Room for Improvement

A future pie by me is sure to be better with the following reminders, as long as I don’t forget or ignore other info I’ve written.

• The filling color was less yellowy than I expected. I used bottled lemon juice and skipped putting in peel (aka zest), as many other recipes call for. I did run across a few sites that mention using a few drops of yellow food coloring into the filling.
• The meringue was maybe too thin in a couple of areas near the crust edge. Next time I’ll be sure to slather the meringue and seal the edge thickly.
• With so much time for the pie to cool and set, consider the pie to be a 6-hour process. Definitely need ensure the baked pie is cool, at least an hour, then place it in the fridge for 3 ¼ hours.
• The overnight wateriness over three days surprised me. Each time after cutting into pie, I need to cover with plastic wrap, pressing out air from cut areas.

BTW, it's good that I used the Pillbury recipe rather than allrecipes one, which calls for a fourth egg and extra 1/3 cup of water. They would have overflowed the pie crust. The online Pillsbury pie recipe calls for refrigerated pie shell, but ingredients and process are the same.

Additional Helpful Sites

Food for the cool's "Lemon Meringue Pie & Tips for Beginners" has lengthy helpful info for beginners and remedials is a long read, but has gems worth noting. (I myself found the process more work than I'd want to do in the future.) One passage seems pretty important WRT filling temperature:

make sure your filling is piping hot, fresh from the saucepan, when you pour it into the shell and add the meringue!! The filling has to be hot because the steam will travel up through the egg whites and cook the meringue from the bottom. If the filling has cooled, when the pie goes in the oven, the heat will heat up the filling and the steam will get trapped between the filling and meringue, creating a watery layer that causes the top and filling to separate.

"highly recommend a stand mixer for this! If not, you can still beat it with a hand mixer, but your arm will be tired."

"Magic Lemon Meringue Pie | Food Network" is intriguing for ease and brevity. The pie crust is graham cracker crust. Video shows meringue consistency to emulate, which she makes before making the filling. The filling is condensed milk, egg yolks, and lemon juice. Interesting that the filling color is similar to mine--offwhite rather than yellowy.

"Easy Lemon Meringue Pie" shows an unusual filling. Best attraction is her showing the meringue consistency and spreading at the end.

"How to Keep a Lemon Meringue Pie From Getting Soggy" describes using a glass pie pan instead of metal. (I myself am unlikely to buy a glass pan before I try other suggestions.)

Use a glass pie plate for your lemon meringue pie. A pie baked in a glass plate will absorb heat from the oven faster, which makes the pie bake more quickly, making it firm and preventing it from getting too soggy from the filling.

Place the pie in the bottom half of the oven so that the pie crust is closer to the direct heat of the oven. The faster the pie crust cooks, the less chance there will be of having a soggy crust.

Creating a YouTube Playlist Really Fast

In 2012, I wrote my previous blog articles WRT creating YouTube playlists with YT newbies in mind. (I'd been more of a newbie back then.) My newer method streamlines the process to minimal steps and window hopping.

Long ago, I set up playlists for music selections that reflect blog article topics. Keeping the playlists up-to-date have been problematic because of some owners removing videos or changing the public status to private. After having occasionally revisiting playlists and updating them, I no longer prioritize URL replacements.

What prompted me to revisit creating YT playlists? Two incentives: Replicating a set of cartoons on a VHS tape that didn't list the entire contents, and wanting to create recent thematic playlists for videos I'd created over time.

Scroll to near the end of this article for the playlist-creation procedure.

VHS-tape Cartoons

I had a VHS tape of cartoons ("Woody Woodpecker and Friends") that I wanted to be able to view without risking wearing out the VCR. The set info on the box is not very helpful; it lists only 12 of the 22 stories. I looked high and low on the web for the full listing. Neither VHS tape nor DVD version is available for sale. The closest info I found were both from WorldCat.org, which lists libraries that have them, no place close to home.

From one "Woody Woodpecker & Friends—"Diamond Entertainment Two hours of classic cartoons, 2003, DVD"

From another "Woody Woodpecker & Friends"—Distributed by Diamond Entertainment Corp., ©2000."

I finally resorted to playing the entire tape over two days, jotting down the titles, main characters, copyright year, in play order. I found all of the cartoons on YouTube. The playlist I created reflects the VHS tape's videos and order, but better quality. For two of the stories, I included links to additional versions because of quality issues—Robinhood Makes Good and Greedy Humpty Dumpty.

Thematic Playlists

Do you have a sizable collection of your own videos? Maybe some that are about similar topics? Create playlists with themes in mind. Set up the play order, and change them whenever you want.
This year, I started posting videos that did not correlate with same-name blog articles. I called them "Eye-caught Snippets" and put them into a playlist. More recently, I decided to create playlists for bugs , deer, and kitchen doings.

Creating the YouTube Playlist Really Fast

Assumptions are that you are familiar with YouTube and have a YouTube account.

Hint: Before starting the playlist process, first create a list that has columns for title and link. The list helps with easy navigation to the video and adding it to the playlist.

1. Log in to YouTube.
2. Navigate to a video.
3. Click the Save button. (You must be logged in so you can save.)
4. When the playlist window opens, click the playlist you want to save the selection to.
   (If you don't have a playlist for this purpose yet, click "New playlist", and follow the prompts.)
5. Click the "X" at the upper right to complete the save process.
6. Open a second YouTube window, click the Playlist tab, and select the playlist you're working on.
   Occasionally refresh the list to confirm the added item.
7. Repeat the actions for navigating to a video and saving it until you're done.

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Previous how-to's for creating a YouTube playlist

• "Creating a YouTube Playlist PDQ", 9/16/2012
• "Creating a YouTube Playlist", 4/22/2012

Short Pre- TDay Deer Tracking

How short was the tracking? About 16 minutes and 1/4 mile of deer path. Followed a pack of deer and shot five clips on 11/23, the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

I found it amusing that the first clip showed decorative spider webbing among the foliage. That resident actually managed to remove it before Thanksgiving day. (I appreciated the web decoration serving as a visual cue for timeframe.)

During my deer pack follow, additional items of interest were a couple of balloon arrangements. One was a sitting turkey (on a straw cushion), another one was a group of smiling jack o'lanterns beside a sitting turkey.

Interestingly, the jack-o'lanterns were dual-purposed, having been around for Halloween and kept in place for Thanksgiving.

While I reviewed and edited items for creating my video for including the inflatable balloons, I decided to also work in a couple of deer images from just before Halloween. One pic has a fawn and doe seemingly playing peekaboo with each other, to the right of a Halloween skeleton.

The other pic is a composite of a buck. Lucky for me, I happened to have had my camera with me during this car trip. BTW, almost all my image captures are on foot. (Video clip frames vary slightly from the stills shown here.)

My video featuring the deer pack includes the following sections:

1. Web-strung foliage at a house, deer pack ambling away
2. A close deer trio moving from my left to right
3. Pack starting to cross street and apparently doubling back halfway
4. Pack deliberately trotting across street right to left
5. Pack ambling away
6. Halloween/Thanksgiving pic potpourri near 11/23 timeframe

The potpourri section includes a few Halloween and Thanksgiving images for timeframe reference. (I really wanted to include the timeframe-proximate regal buck and peekaboo deer.)

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For more articles about deer, enter "deer" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "deer" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section). BTW, additional deer videos are available at my YouTube channel.

Composting Cleanly, Way Reducing Ick

Recently, we started participating in the community composting program. At the lead-off seminar, we received a specifically designed compostables pail for indoors. About a week or so later, outdoor carts arrived in the neighborhood. It took a few days to gingerly get with the program.

Although the seminar literature didn't help ease the ick apprehension, the Q and A session planted some ideas to "neaten" compostables. Actually implementing them was less messy than anticipated. Reduce ickiness possibilites by avoiding fouling both containers:

• Use castoff food boxes to line the indoor pail, additionally helped if you initially use paper towels for spills/cleanups then toss into the boxes. Toss in items like egg shells, coffee grounds, fruit cores, post-meal wipes, etc.
• Use newspaper to wrap food scraps, produce (fruits, veggies) trimmings, melon rinds.
• Prepare the outdoor cart with a layer, maybe half-can full, of tree debris (leaves, small branches). Compress by pressing down with dustpan or similar item if you want.

When disposing of castoff food boxfuls and wrapped compostables, place them into the prepared cart instead of overturning the pail into the cart.

My video, less than 3 minutes, has four main sections with captions:

1. Cart for compostables, intro and prep
2. Pail for compostables, preparations and fill
3. Kitchen wrapping preparations (some examples of produce)
4. Compostables into cart

Pizza boxes are a type of castoff that the seminar emphasized as fine to compost. Also OK, meat-based tossouts. Visit top level info at "Curbside Composting Collection Program". Get smaller info bites at "How-to-Guide" and "Curbside Composting FAQ".

Better'n a Baker's Dozen of Deer

A few days ago on a morning walk, the sun was pretty bright out, making me think conditions wouldn't be good for using my camera. For about the first half hour, I spotted some deer here and there, but contrasts not good. Happily, a load of deer came into view in shade. Within six minutes, I snagged three separate clips within 500 feet that I thought interesting.

Baker's Dozen
So many deer came into view in my first clip, I wondered how many I recorded. Upon viewing the clip several times, I'm more than 90 percent sure I have 14. My title refers to baker's dozen. I don't believe the term is used much anymore, but I wanted to refresh my recollection of its meaning. From "baker's dozen:"

a group of 13; a dozen plus one: from the former practice among bakers and other tradespeople of giving 13 items to the dozen as a safeguard against penalties for short weights and measures.

One doe, which I feature in the second video segment, caught my eye for smudge-like markings on her flank and shoulder. In the third clip, five deer are prominent. At the very start, however, a faraway sixth one ambles at the extreme right part of the clip. Blink and you miss it!

During viewing and editing, I noticed these deer all had taupe coloration but some were smaller than others. When I "shot" deer earlier in the year, fawns were more tawny and had white spots. More on the spotting later.

Coloration
Taupe and tawny each have 5 letters, starting with "ta". I wanted to clarify the color distinctions.
From "Taupe Color":

intermediate shade between dark brown and gray, which shares similar attributes of both colors. However, taupe does not describe a single color, rather, it is used to describe a vast range of colors from dark tan to brownish gray.

From "tawny":

A color adjective, tawny describes something that is a mix of yellow, orange, and brown colors. … Tawny comes from the Anglo-Norman word, taune, which means tanned.

It turns out that colors change during the year. In viewing some of my videos of deer from earlier in the year, does also look tawny. View deer/fawn segments at "Critter Shootin' Near Mid-June 2019" and "Fawnzies and Deering Does" (from July).

"Whitetail Deer Facts & Trivia, Information & Photos" is loaded with good deer info to begin with. Surprising is that the coat colors change throughout the seasons, like getting dye-jobs year around.

The whitetail's coat will change with the seasons, from reddish brown in the spring and summer when vegetation is growing to grayish brown in the winter. This helps the deer to stay camouflaged all year round. The change in color happens quickly, usually in 1 or 2 weeks.

Fawn Spots
From "More Information: When Do Fawns Lose Their Spots?":

Fawns maintain their white spots for 90 to 120 days after birth; quite useful for their survival. These spots eventually fade away from their body after that time frame. Once gone, a shiny brownish fur replaces it. A thicker coat replaces the previous coat of the fawn as the white spots slowly fade. The purpose of the thicker coat is for them to survive the winter.

Antler Starts
Another feature that piqued my interest with these clips was absence of antlers or forehead nubs. I wondered when male deer started developing them. From "Managing for Age in White-tailed Deer"

Male deer begin growing their first set of antlers at about one year of age. They will grow a new set of antlers yearly. With proper nutrition equal, antlers will get larger each year until about six years of age.

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For more articles about deer, enter "deer" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "deer" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section). BTW, additional deer videos are available at my YouTube channel.

Halloween Scenes Around (2018)

Jack O'Lanterns, skeletons, ghouls, ghosts, goblins, black cats, dragons, witches, oh, my! Additional ghastly, occasional cutie characters! The scenery owners seemed to have gotten into the spirit (grin). I fess up! These stills and clips from these 20 sites are from two weeks in October 2018. With so much nearby flora and fauna to pick from within a year's time, I kept kicking the 2018 Halloween blog-and-video can down the road. Stroll with me and view the Halloweeny sites/sights.

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2022 Halloween Nearby Tour
Roving Around Halloween 2021
2020 Halloween Meandering
2019 Halloween, Pre-pandemic Year
Halloween Scenes Around (2018)
Related: April Fooling Easter Halloween and More (from 2018)

Enjoy YouTube Halloween themes playlists: "Baker's Dozen Halloween YouTube Links", "Halloween Music Baker's Dozen Matter"

Cicada Wasp, Pac-Mannish Deco

In mId -August, spotted couple of cicada-pertinent items--a cicada wasp and cicada wing, one day apart. Decided to save the cicada wasp topic till now. (The previous article and video is about the wing—"Cicada Wing Curiosity Piquer".

As is often, the winged bug caught our eyes during a morning walk. Initially, thought might be a hornet. Took video and stills, one with a measuring tape body. Later, I estimated the insect at ~ 2”, using some kludgy composite means of measuring items. Easiest way to estimate the length would have been simply pull some of the measuring tape out, lock it, place the tab near one end the insect, and take a pic.

Anyway, I poked around on the web to narrow down the stinger suspect. Found an excellent Cicada Wasp Flickr image. Now armed with caption info, particularly "Cicada Killer Wasp (Crabroninae, Sphecius specimen)", I no longer, uh, flew blind trying to determine the insect.

"Crabronidae, the crabronid wasps, including the mud daubers and sand wasps" section of "Insect Identification Key" and "Genus Specius" section of BugGuide.net greatly helped my bug determination. BugGuide's Taxonomy tab shows the four species convallis (Pacific), grandis (Western), hogardii (Caribbean), and speciosus (Eastern).

In looking at the BugGuide's Sphecius genus images, the yellow markings of the images I have seem to best indicate the Eastern species. Look at a Pac-Man image, then look at killer wasp images I offer up. Do you also see Pac-Mannish faces? Contrast with markings of other species' examples—less Pac-Mannish, imho. (View my video for circling-around peering.)

I recalled I had blogged about a cicada wasp with cicada. Revisted "Wasp and Cicada Together". The pic of a neighbor and dead cicada wasp greatly resembles the Cicada Wasp Flickr image.

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For more articles about cicadas, enter "cicada" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "cicada" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section).

Cicada Wing Curiosity Piquer

Last month, we found a wing part inside the kitchen door. Wondered if someone tracked it in. Maybe a butterfly wing? Hmm, as I'd been preoccupied with cicadas this July and August, I immediately recognized it as a partial cicada wing. Decided to video-record it, turning it with tweezers, and also taking some stills.


Although seemingly transparent, the wing panes actually have "spikes". Poking around the web, I found articles about cicada wing research, mostly about antibacterial properties. (Google hits for cicada wing water repellency were fewer.)

Antibacterial Capability

From "Cicada wings inspire new ideas for antibacterial products"

Scientists have discovered that the wing surface of the Clanger cicada (Psaltoda claripennis) isn’t flat. Instead, it is covered with thousands of pillars that are about 200 nanometers tall (a nanometer is a billion times smaller than a meter). When certain types of disease causing bacteria land on a cicada’s wing, they are killed by the nanopillars.

From "Nanopillars on surface of wing of the clanger cicada kill bacteria by expanding surface area to the point of stretching and ripping."

On the surface of the clanger cicada there are tiny cone-like structures known as nanopillars. These are spaced out among the wing and protrude upward from the surface. … when a bacterial cell finds itself on the surface of the wing; as it settles in, the nanopillars push up against it causing the cell to somewhat mold around them. This shifting of shape causes stretching in the bacterial cell's membrane. With enough stretch, the surface eventually begins to split and tear.

From "Cicada wings hold engineering and nanotechnology secrets | UNC-TV Science"

structures on a wing about 50 nanometers tall (~2.25 minutes into video), about 1000 times smaller than human hair width.

Additional info about anti-bacterial properties: "Researchers find cicada wing structure able to kill bacteria on contact (w/ video)", "Antibacterial Surfaces Inspired By Cicada Wings"

Water Repellency

From "Studying Cicada Wings for Bioinspiration"

The study, published in the journal Applied Materials and Interfaces, focused on the water-repelling ability of cicada wings. The research team of engineers and entomologists used high-speed microscopic photography to study the wings' ability to repel water.

"The property that allows a surface to repel water is called hydrophobicity and it causes water to bead up and roll away," Miljkovic said. "Superhydrophobicity is simply an extreme form of this property and cicada wings that have this feature have a rough nanotexture that creates open spaces around water droplets, allowing surface tension to force the droplets to jump off of the wings."

From "Cicada Wings Are Self-Cleaning"

Researchers now find the design of their wings can cause filth to jump right off of them with the aid of dew, findings that might help lead to better artificial self-cleaning materials. … Scientists had known that cicada wings are super-water-repellent, or super-hydrophobic.

More Winging It

During winging-it web browsing, I noticed sites that sell cicada wings, both jewelry designs and organic: Amazon Cicada Wing Jewelry for sale, Cicada wings for sale

More Cicadaing

From Cicada Mania—"dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world". This site has menu links: News & Facts, Species, Sounds, Photos, FAQs, Merch(andise) 17-Year Cicadas. Oddly, the site doesn't provide info or links about scientific studies about cicada wings.

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For more articles about cicadas, enter "cicada" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "cicada" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section).