This latest CBS/Associate Press report is just the latest example of the severe weather that has been ripping across the middle of the US lately: Midwest Storms Bring Flooding, Kill 3

(CBS/AP) At least three people are dead after severe weekend storms in the Midwest.

Two Michigan newspaper carriers drowned this morning when their car was submerged along a washed-out road.

Another person was killed in Indiana, where record flooding is continuing along several rivers.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from Indiana homes, a hospital and a flooded nursing home.

In Nebraska, the National Weather Service has confirmed at least one category EF 2 tornado touched down in a neighborhood in west Omaha.

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The Associated Press reports on the latest 5.0 aftershock in China that is threatening the debris dams holding back large lakes before they can be safely drained, and the BBC reports on the 6.1 earthquake responsible for two deaths in Greece:

China: Aftershock hits quake lake, setting off landslides

JIANGYOU, China (AP) — A “relatively strong” aftershock shook a massive quake-formed lake Sunday that had been threatening to flood more than a million people, sending landslides tumbling down surrounding mountains, a state news agency reported.

The effect of the 20-second quake on the Tangjiashan lake was not immediately known, Xinhua News Agency said. The dam of unstable mud and rocks was under surveillance following the aftershock.

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Southern Italian Minestrone

Minestrone is one of those dishes with a thousand different recipe’s! It was originally a poor family meal made up of whatever ingredients could be found. This particular recipe has been used extensively through Southern Italy, though it’s probably used all over with some variations. 🙂

Ingredients:

1 kilogram soup potatoes
1 kilogram vegetables (onions, leeks, fresh or dried kidney and soup beans, green beans, carrots, celery, turnips, pumpkin, spinach) or whatever vegetables are in season or easily found. Fresh is best.
4 cloves of crushed garlic (or up to individual taste)
150 grams Swiss air-dried pig chest bacon (or similar thick, lean bacon)
1 pig trotter (secret ingredient #1)
1 Parmesan crust (secret ingredient #2)
1 large slice of pig skin (pork rind from the bacon) (secret ingredient #3)
4 Bay leaves
Fresh chopped parsley, basil, 1 twig of thyme and 1 of rosemary (proportions up to you)
6-8 Cloves (number of cloves up to individual taste)
6-8 Peppercorns (used for cooking soup beans)
Rock Salt, ground black pepper (Up to individual taste.)
Freshly grated Parmesan and Pecorino cheese. (again, amount depends on individual taste. however, Parmesan should be a wedge with the crust on for use later).

NOTE: 1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds. No need to be exact in the measures for the vegetables. And it depends how big a pot you have and how much you want to make. Just try to keep all the proportions relative. 🙂

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