I just made a little trail mix with some dried fruits (cranberries, cherries, and raisins) and some almonds and other assorted nuts with a little touch of dried coconut flakes, and I threw in a little crystallized ginger, and I have to say, it really kicks up the trail mix a bit! It might not be for everybody, but it added a zip to an otherwise sweet/sour and umami dominated mix.
I liked it a lot, in other words!
*** Update ***
Damnit to hell. Crystallized ginger. Why must every random open thread have a c-object? I’m not trying to do this, folks, I swear.
Bnut
I often find myself trying to find ways to use the word umami. It’s so fun to say.
Mark S.
I don’t get what the problem is.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
correcto
Kobie
I love Subway.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Can we please have another socks open thread? I learned so much from the last one.
RSR
I’m so old I remember when dried plums were called prunes.
Mark S.
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
I don’t know what anybody’s talking about today!
And General, can you make Makewi go away again?
Mike Kay
Trail Mix > granola
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Mark S.:
don’t believe I hold such powers, and thus far Scarlett is behaving herself, sort of, but that may not hold.
John O
Trail mix is tasty; sadly, also gay. Especially homemade.
But I respect that!
jl
Do Tunch and Lily like it?
And if Cole goes nuts for the stuff and makes s-loads of it, will that nick into his owners’ bedtime treats budget?
I thought this blog got down to the really important issues, but guess I was wrong.
freelancer
FYWP
C is on the LEFT side of a qwerty keyboard, I don’t get it. Don’t tell me you’re a dvorak, that’s scarier than Scientology.
Richard
Hi, i don’t comment here often but did anyone happen to read eric massa’s open letter?
http://massa.house.gov/
“I own this reality.”
This letter makes me sad to see this guy go.
Cat Lady
Ginger is so good, and good for you! Just bought some ginger granola at Whole Paycheck and mixed in some organic golden raisins – so good! I even like to say the word ginger. It even sounds good – ginger ginger ginger.
+2
beltane
@Mark S.: How about Kristolized ginger. Is that any better.
Annie
@RSR:
LOL.
Cranberries and almonds have become my newest obsession. Almonds satisfy my salt and crunch cravings so I have been able to finally stay away from chips…
Ginger I have never been a big fan of….
Tonal Crow
@beltane:
Ewwwww! Gross! Gag me with a spooooon!
Alan
I’ve got a hankering to make some of these cocoa and coconut balls.
John O
@beltane:
I read Kristolized ginger wants to start a war with Kumin.
+2
Max
I see on the Twitter that Wolf (Dept of cross-dressing?) Blitzer just apologized for the DOJ thing.
Did anyone see it? Was it a non-apology apology? or a real one?
flounder
My wife and I buy a good dried fruit and nut trail mix at Costco. I never knew how good dried kiwis were until recently.
Max
@JohnCole – I’m surprised no comment on the Big Ben controversy.
Mike Kay
all this talk of ginger has me thinking:
Ginger or Mary ann?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW3WWCXDT_0&feature=related
ajr22
Cole, you got me hooked on Chuck, just finished season 2. Not so sure about having Chevy Chase as the head of Fulcrum. I don’t see what he brings to the table, it’s clearly not comedy. Chuck needs to man up and lay the wood down on sarah already.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
I just go for either raw peanuts in the shell, or unsalted roasted ones, big part of daily food intake. I like trail mix, but kind of expensive for me. Salt is my downfall. Sometimes I crave it, a lot, and I don’t believe it’s cause my body needs it. Too much and it causes all sorts of problems, from just feeling rotten, to headaches and joint pain, to elevated BP. Why is it that the things you like most to eat are the worst for you?
lamh31
hey does anyone know who to contact when you want a DVD to be released for TV shows.
I’m a big fan of “A Different World”, the “Cosby Show” spin-off about life as a college student at an HBCU. I credit this show, and my mom with making want to go to college. Two degrees later, and I haven’t regretted it.
Anyway, for anyone who is not aware of the HBCU culture, then even though it dated, “A Different World” is fabulous.
Mike Kay
@Max: I think Big Ben better get a steady girlfriend. All this impromptu hippie sex is criminally dangerous.
Martin
@Mike Kay: [sniff] reminds me of the GOS pie war… better days.
(Mary Ann)
Annie
Blitzer: CNN’s ‘Dept. Of Jihad’ Chyron Was Offensive. I love this. Oops, we didn’t mean to say what we said even though we said what we said, but we didn’t mean what we said.
Apparently no one at CNN is smart enough to realize that implying DOJ lawyers are terrorists might be a problem…
lamh31
Re: Big Ben controvesry
Just texted this to my local sports station. Who were big time defenders of Ben R.
They are talking about it now.
Now they are saying “if it’s true” then he’s toast. They are stunned. I remember them talking about the first one, and they were the usual “good ole boys” chauvanist who were blaming the girl
The sports radio dudes and the callers are already trying to say that this girl is targetting Roth.
Men are so stupid. I texted to them that rape is not always about sex!!! It’s about control, anger, and in cases of celebs…ego! The celeb says “how dare this woman tell me no!”
Idiots!!!!
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Mike Kay:
thou doth protest too much.
mr. whipple
“I often find myself trying to find ways to use the word umami.”
I like saying ‘cooter’ and ‘pooter’.
Mike Kay
@lamh31:
good news
the first 2 season of “a different world” is out on DVD.
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&tag=mozilla-20&index=blended&link_code=qs&field-keywords=A%20Different%20World&sourceid=Mozilla-search
you can always write Cosby, he owns the show.
lamh31
MICHELLE oBAMA MOVES: First Lady Kicks, Runs and Cheers
mr. whipple
@lamh31:
She’s so militant.
Annie
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
LOL. I am proud to be a criminal…
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@mr. whipple: And she’s wearing Black Panther tights.
Mike Kay
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
seriously, Kobe Bryant almost spent half of his career in jail for a little strange. And Mike Tyson ruined his career.
lamh31
@ Mike Kay,
I’ve looked on amazon, and unless I’m mistaken, they released the 1st season a while back, and they were gonna release the 2nd season, but they never did!
The 1st season with Lisa Bonet was the worse season of the show. So not surprisingly, it didn’t sell well.
Once they got rid of Lisa Bonet, and went with new direction, the shows for my money was one of the best (and one of the only) shows with an all Black cast ever.
Thx
cathaireverywhere
I *love* crystallized ginger! Sounds like a great trail mix.
I bought some Haagen Dazs 5 ginger ice cream today. It is so good- very fresh ginger flavor. As the name would indicate, HD5 has only 5 ingredients and no weird stuff. It is delicious. It was on sale, so I bought some lemon, too. Nice and tart. Wasn’t there a discussion about the dearth of lemon ice cream a while back? This stuff is great.
Linda Featheringill
For a very pleasant little treat: http://tinyurl.com/yfd46d9
Laurel and Hardy dancing to a 1980s song. And doing it well.
Svensker
Trail mix with crystallized ginger? Wow. Next thing you know, you’ll be talking about your awesome lavender candles. Oh, wait…
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Annie: Impromptu hippie sex was/is not criminal. Pro Football players rutting around apparently sometimes is/
lamh31
Anyone else love the new “Old Spice” commerical. I saw it first during the previews for “Valentines Day” last month. All the ladies were tickled pink, all the guys were not as amused…LOL!
Old Spice: The Man Your Man could Smell Like
Oh, and big ups to Old Spice for putting a little “color” in thier spokesman.
Rommie
LOL, Bill Simmons vs. Keith Olbermann, Ego’s at twenty paces!
I like both of them, but geez, it’s popcorn time if they continue the blog/twitter duel. Look at what you’ve done, Tiger Woods! Simple diddying is spiraling out of control…
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Mike Kay: Yea, I know what your saying with celebrities being careful, unless they are actually guilty of sexual assault, but I must defend hippie sex for the make love not war thing it was. Not Kobe doing the hotel concierge on the fly (no pun intended), whether consensual or not.
It was not really impromptu in olden days of hippietude, we usually smoked a joint first and rolled the I Ching.
suzanne
@lamh31:
Those commercials are fabulous. Completely captivating, funny, and unique.
Still, Google’s “Parisian Love” is the winner for me so far this year.
Midnight Marauder
@Annie:
It’s a very fitting weasel apology for Blitzer and CNN:
Fuck you straight to hell, Wolf Blitzer. You and your whole team of unscrupulous, disgusting producers.
slag
@Mark S.:
I feel this. From what I’ve been able to discern from his previous comments on the C-Word, John’s stuck in some sort of pattern recognition behavior loop.
As regards the socks, dunno. Maybe it has something to do with the Clintons’ cat.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@slag: The Socks Thread was fairly epic when Cole was in the mood to buy some new socks and wanted feedback from his minions. I think he was drunk, but whatever. Though it quickly devolved into a pun fest of cheap jokery.
Nether to. My recommendation for these situations is always go for Jersey White Tube or Crew Cushioned heel, cause they are cheap and much more durable than Fruit loop of the loon, or whatever. And better than Hanes. Socks are important. You’re feet will thank you for choosing wisely.
jeffreyw
Some more tasty treats. Rice noodles with shrimp, chicken, and red peppers in a soy/lime/chili sauce
Linda Featheringill
To General Egali Tarian Stuck:
That is true. Hippies were not really into quickies. We tried to form Mutual Admiration Societies [complete with refreshments] on the way to the bed.
Just Some Fuckhead
It’s hard work being West Virginia’s only metrosexual.
Svensker
@Linda Featheringill:
I remember quickies with snacks. Also longies with snacks. Depended on the drugs.
ajr22
I’m a huge Simmons fan, and to be honest i can’t really watch Keith anymore. However, I will always respect him for speaking up against Bush during the “if you question King George you are a traitor” days. Olberman should know better than to pick a fight with a guy who’s job is to be snarky. Btw, Ron Christie was on hardball saying something about how he really doesn’t like turrist, well to be honest I don’t know what he said, cause I was just thinking about punching him in his good eye.
Jenn
@Richard:
Yeah, I agree, I liked Massa’s letter, too. And it extra sucks that this all is hitting the fan at the same time that he’s battling possibly-terminal cancer. Plus, I have extra sympathy because I, too, can cuss like an extremely blasphemous sailor.
mr. whipple
Brother. Elevating satisfying sexual urges to anti-war social statement?
Whatever.
slag
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: Good choices. I always recommend buying all the same kind so you don’t have to worry about matching them up in the morning. And buy extras so that when a few get holey, you don’t have to buy a whole new set.
Although I should add that I am a SmartWool sock fiend. Wear them all the time.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@mr. whipple: But hippies needed catchy slogans too. Not like we were commies or anything. Didn’t work for me though. They drafted my space cadet ass anyways.
cat48
@Midnight Marauder:
At least we know he must read his twitter feed. He was persecuted last night via direct msgs to him and should have been.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@slag:
Yes, Forgot that nugget of practicality.
eta – I just cut the holey ones up for cleaning rags and kill two birds with one sock.
Svensker
@Midnight Marauder:
Ha. Nice to know those of us who expressed our anger at this had some effect.
mr. whipple
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
I say we bring it back. Because if we can end war by scrogging, maybe we can scrog our way to curing a whole host of social ills.
Make love, not AIG bailouts!
Make love, not deficit spending!
Yutsano
I honestly expected this to degenerate into more of a food pr0n thread. Oh well, the night is young yet.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Yutsano:
Since I a dieting, I ruthlessly hijacked it to a socks/hippie thread and have no remorse/
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@mr. whipple:
I like it!!
slag
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
For sure. But eventually you’ll start to run low on socks, and who knows if the kind you originally bought en masse will still be in production? Hence the few extra pairs. Ideally, your number of pairs of socks in the rotation will match up to your number of pairs of underwear in the rotation so that by the time you do your laundry (“You know…the whites”), you haven’t run out of either item.
I’m done now. But you’re right…I can see how the socks thread would have been epic.
ajr22
Speaking of food, i grabbed some lunch the other day at Xoco in Chicago. Rick Bayless is the man, I got the pipito. It’s braised Tallgrass shortribs, carmelized onion, artisan Jack, black beans and pickled jalapenos cooked in the woodburning oven. If your in Chi I highly recommend.
Elisabeth
@Max:
TPM has the video
Yutsano
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: I can hijack it right back you know. I’m ruthless like that and I got contacts in the USMC. Not a good idea to mess with me man.
Cat Lady
@lamh31:
It’s always interesting to me to see how many women’s voices it takes to equal one sports hero man’s voice. I would bet more than two for a Super Bowl quarterback, and I’m skeptical of everything, but this smells like a real problem for Big Ben.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Yutsano: It’s all yours, I’m fixing to get lost in Aliens DVD I just bought.
What do you mean, “*They* cut the power”? How could they cut the power, man? They’re animals!
jeffreyw
@Yutsano: Food porn? You can go here for that.
South of I-10
Evening y’all. I am childless for the night courtesy of the grandparents. We are going to go listen to some live music at my favorite club and I am not driving. I sense danger ahead.
Yutsano
@jeffreyw: That looks fantastic, but I need a dish to serve with rice as I’m planning a Greek salmon dish that requires cooked rice for dinner tomorrow. Not that I’m necessarily looking for dinner suggestions mind you, I just have a plan in my head. (Insert maniacal laughter here.)
@South of I-10: How much trouble could you possibly get into? Wait don’t answer that. :)
John O
@South of I-10:
Wish I was there, SoI-10! Every now and then the carbon needs to be blown out.
jeffreyw
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
In your face, General. With all due respect and shit.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@jeffreyw: so cruel, so cruel.
John O
Anyone have or know someone who has a recent Chevy Equinox?
I cannot believe I’m even CONSIDERING a Chevy, but the pro and amateur reviews have been pretty positive.
I drove it and liked it, especially in terms of bang for buck.
Yutsano
@John O: If you drove it and liked it and can live with it for a few years, go get it. I will admit an Equinox is high on the list of replacement cars should mine decide to blow up tomorrow. They are neat vehicles and not too huge, I’d love it if they’d hybridize one though.
russell
Umami so fat she’s on both sides of the family!
Umami’s so dumb she stole a free sample!
Umami so dumb she failed a survey!
John O
@Yutsano:
Yutsano, one of the things I got a kick out of was that the standard Chevy 4 got a better EPA mpg than the Escape Hybrid. 32-31.
My current car is 9 years old. They’re crappy places to park your money, but have intrinsic value that is hard to put a price on.
I’m a family man now (Dweezil) so I have other “soft” considerations, too.
Randy P
We have to clarify what we mean by crystallized ginger. Are we talking about the flat stuff, which tends to be pretty sharp (my favorite). I think that’s the Chinese version. And then there’s the stuff which is closer to a cube shape, like the pineapple bits you get in cans. That tends to be darker and a lot milder.
I have to ration my ginger eating. I’ve been known to buy a half-pound at the bulk food store and eat it all in one sitting. Probably while reading Balloon Juice.
John O
Umami so dumb she sweats when she reads.
Betsy
@Yutsano:
I currently have banana bread in the oven, making the apt. smell good. When it’s done my fiance and I (hee! I still get a kick out of saying that) are going to watch Wordplay.
Tomorrow, a friend and her little girl are coming over to make biscuits with whole wheat pastry flour and an assortment of amazing jams.
Embarrassing girl stuff warning, those who hate all things wedding should read no further:
I’m on cloud 9 tonight because my mother found my grandmother’s wedding band, which is beautiful and elegant and fits me and is perfect in every way – the more so because my grandparents were married for 63 years and incredibly devoted to each other until the very end. It is a ring that comes with good vibes. And is just one more way to avoid the wedding-industrial complex.
Randy P
@slag: I missed the sock thread. So do I get to talk about socks here?
Mostly I buy cheap socks and wearing them is not something I pay any attention to. But because I own a tuxedo, last time I needed it I decided to go ahead and buy the really expensive socks (I want to say something in the neighborhood of $15).
OMG those things are great. Every time they come up in the rotation in my sock drawer I practically have an orgasmic experience.
Yeah, I know. We old dudes are pathetic in what gives us pleasure. Don’t get me started.
Betsy
@Randy P:
For the winter-gift-giving-holidays last year, my stepdad’s requested present from me was…burgundy socks. I was like, for real? You want me to get you socks? Ok…
And then I discovered how hard maroon colored men’s socks are to find. The ones I found cost, I am not making this up, $20 a pair, before tax. They were at a fancy men’s haberdashery. Since I bought him several pair, I spent more on SOCKS for him than I would have if I’d bought him a nice book, sweater, or kitchen tool.
South of I-10
@Yutsano: Not as much as I used to!
@John O: Here’s their website, they have “Watch the show live” button, I’ve never actually tried it though. The band doesn’t start for another couple of hours. This place is basically like sitting on someone’s back porch listening to music.
John O
Now you be good, Yutsano!
Or, take pictures of the converse.
Carrie
Had an epic day today.
Drove up to the cottage to check it out after the long winter and was happy to see that inspite of the 20 inches of snow still on the ground and the ice on the lake, the place still looks fabulous and welcoming.
When i got home, found that my Tunch shirt had finally arrived and it fits great. Lovely!
Oh, and then i went out and bought a new baby-laptop (notebook).
I’m a lucky, lucky girl.
South of I-10
@Betsy: That is amazing! What a special ring. I have a ring that my great-grandfather gave my great-grandmother when my parents got married (my great-grandmother gave her engagement ring to my Dad to pop the question). I was very close to her and I treasure it.
Cheryl from Maryland
I’ve been a Chevy owner for 8 years (a Tahoe). Very reliable, and no bullshit from the dealer when it comes to service. My mother-in-law has had a Malibu for 10 years. Same deal — good to go, dealer service good.
I buy Sock Guy socks or Smart Wool socks. They last for ever and wash well. Plus, I got one pair with skulls wearing pink bows. Take that hello Kitty. Go to Cycling sites (gear for tour de france guys) for the best socks.
Also, FYI, cherry, crystalized ginger, pecan scones to die for.
Zuzu's Petals
@Max:
Maybe my irate e-mail telling ’em I was through with the show and through with CNN over this did the trick.
Straw/camel, tipping point, etc.
Zuzu's Petals
@Zuzu’s Petals:
Ah well, I see he weaseled per usual. Never mind.
asiangrrlMN
@freelancer: Um, I’m a Dvorak-user. Why are we scarier than Scientologists?
@Richard: Yeah. It’s sucky because I feel like there is a lot less there than in the cases for which the Republicans made tearful apologies but did not resign. I dunno. I will have to wait and see.
AhabTRuler
@asiangrrlMN:
That’s still the most awesomest thing evar! You may not be scary, but you are scarcer than hen’s teeth.
asiangrrlMN
@AhabTRuler: Thanks. I like it. I am just curious why freelancer thinks it’s teh evilz.
Poicephalus
JC,
just because you don’t “think” you are doing it, doesn’t mean you aren’t doing it.
There’s more to mice (and men), that just fuzzy.
C
RedKitten
Yay! That’s awesome, Betsy. Wedding bands are so much nicer when there’s a story behind them, rather than being fresh out of the store.
We got ours at a pawnshop, actually. It was funny, because they were a matching set, and they fit us perfectly. Sometimes I think they were from a marriage that didn’t work out, and my husband and I have given them a second chance and made them into what they were meant to be — symbols of a loving, happy marriage.
And Another Thing...
OT – Has anybody else ever heard of the “European Union Naval Force?” Turns out there is one, and they’re fighting pirates off Somalia.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/03/05/eu.pirates/?hpt=T2
Hmmmmm..
And thanks for “umami.”
Yutsano
@RedKitten: Believing as I do that there are no coincidences in life, you were meant to find those rings regardless of their prior history. You could view it as your own personal version of The Red Violin, in fact viewing it like that makes the story even more romantic.
@AhabTRuler: Johnny Depp must be stopped before his reign of terror consumes us all!!
AhabTRuler
@And Another Thing…:
The possibilities are endless.
AhabTRuler
@Yutsano: Oh, fuck Johnny Depp for doing those last two POTC movies. And Geoffrey Rush. Also, too!
RedKitten
@Yutsano: The crazy thing was that we bought them on a complete lark. We had gone into the pawnshop to look for CDs. We’d only been together a month, but for some strange reason, we just knew and were totally comfortable with the fact that we were going to marry each other. So when we saw the rings, it just seemed…natural.
Yutsano
@RedKitten: You’re reminding me of the story that Anne Laurie was talking about with her S/O. It was just…right. Sometimes you get lucky like that.
Svensker
@Betsy:
That is lovely and perfect. Nice. :)
Dr. Morpheus
@Mike Kay:
Oh definitely Mary Ann, she had a delicious shapely body.
Dr. Morpheus
@Annie:
Do tell!
Anne Laurie
@lamh31:
I was gonna suggest contacting the company that produced it, which turns out to be Carsey Werner. They also own Grace Under Fire, one of the few shows I enjoyed enough to watch on purpose during that period, and which also hasn’t been released to DVD. I get the impression that CW has decided it’s more cost-effective to milk the rerun residuals than the DVD market. Who knows, maybe reminding them that vast hordes of potential viewers don’t watch TV-on-television any more might actually change their minds?
Betsy
@South of I-10:
Wow, that’s amazing! That’s a lot of generations to have survived. I hope it stays in the family for many more.
@RedKitten:
That is a wonderful story! It’s so nice when the universe smiles on you like that.
Cara
Try cashews, cranberries, and golden raisins with maybe a few apricots…a softer flavor than using Thompson seedless