Take it away, Bad Horse’s Filly:
Tonight’s menu is really in anticipation of fresh summer produce. We are not quite there yet, but you shouldn’t have any trouble finding the ingredients. While I lived in suburbia, there was a great farm stand a mile or so from my house. I passed it coming and going from work and errands. It was perfect for when I wanted something fresh for dinner that night. Farmers’ Markets are great, but nothing beats a farm stand you can shop at any day. I had in the back of my mind that since I moved, I needed to scout out a new one, but hadn’t given it a lot of thought or effort. And then came the lost wallet.
__
One of the guys I work with found a wallet, stuffed with cash, cards…you know basically someone’s entire financial life. A bit of investigation and he tracked her down. Come to find out she lives a few miles from me, so I was the logical person to return the wallet. I knew from the address it was going to be a beautiful location, and it was, farmland on the river with a breathtaking mountain view. Very nice family and even better, they operate a farm stand with organic produce. Kismet. You never know how you’ll find what you’re looking for.
__
And I must give a shout out to our wallet owner. Very kind, very appreciative, she handed me a wad of cash to give to my guy and then handed me a grocery card. I tried to refuse, because I really believed we were just doing the right thing. But she was a feisty 95lb woman in her 80’s that would brook no refusal and while I could have probably arm-wrestled her to the ground, it didn’t seem appropriate. I think I’m going to enjoy shopping their farm stand this summer.
__
On the board tonight:__
1. Creamy Chicken & Pasta
__
2. Fresh Garden Medley
__
3. Sliced Melon
Recipes and shopping list, as ever, at the link.
Mike Kay
Neveda senate candidate, Chicken Sue Lowden came out today against: the Civil Rights Act and says Global Warming doesn’t exist.
http://www.thepoliticalcarnival.net/2010/05/video-sue-lowden-refuses-to-say-whether-she-agrees-with-civil-right-act/
Bad Horse's Filly
I would love to hear what everyone is cooking for the holiday weekend. Lots of grilling I hope.
Just Some Fuckhead
I hate people who try to give me money for doing the right thing but I love BHF!
MikeJ
@Mike Kay: When’s the primary? I have this fear that Reid won’t get to run against her.
On edit: Google tells me June 8, or 1.5 weeks.
Yutsano
I always did love bowtie pasta, mostly because I love the Italian name for it: farfalle. It’s always so much more fun when you see it on your plate or in your pasta bowl I think.
@Bad Horse’s Filly: I’m still in recovery mode, but I might get adventurous either tomorrow or Saturday. If so I’ll keep y’all updated.
jeffreyw
Don’t forget dessert.
MikeJ
@Bad Horse’s Filly: Two weeks ago, the first Copper River salmon of the week showed up in Seattle. $55/lb. Last week, I got some for $35/lb. Today I saw the inferior, but still mighty tastey, coho at QFC for only $20/lb. I’ll check my regular fishmonger tomorrow and get a quote on king, and then decide what I’ll throw on an alder wood plank this weekend.
BruceFromOhio
Fookin glorious. I love this time of year – the deep breath before the heat of summer, or the dive into the pool.
Good karma. Let’s eat.
BruceFromOhio
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
Lots of grilling I hope.
A host of chicken thighs in some tandoori recipe, liberally doused with clarified butter, low temp on the grill for a long, smokey cook. What wasn’t immediately devoured sits in anticipation of a makani recipe with the leftovers, probably on Sunday. Like lasagna the next day, it sits in spices and evolves deliciously.
Monday is hotdogs. That is all.
jank_w
Super OT hairsplitting… I saw on an earlier thread a reference to the “diviest of dive bars”, and it seemed that the author (John, I think) was implying that’s a bad thing. Take it back! Full retraction, above the fold!
+3
Mike Kay
BREAKING: The House just repealed DADT!
DADT is now in the dust bin of history, along with Jim Crow.
As Jenny said:
MikeJ
@jank_w: The diviest of dive bars is not in WV. It is in London. In Soho. It is in the back room of a mini cab stand. On a late Sunday night when nothing else was open, my friends and I were invited in, where we were sold pints of vodka and marijawana, in spliffs as big as your arm.
Corner Stone
@Bad Horse’s Filly: Well, tonight I’m doing grilled burgers and homemade mac & cheese. And by homemade I mean fresh homemade pasta with a little cheese/white sauce.
Mike Kay
Only 5 measly republicans voted for the repeal. 172 republicans voted to retain bigotry and oppression.
See, this is why I want to punch someone in the mouth and knock all their teeth out when I hear “there’s no difference bwtn bush and obama” or “stay home and teach the Pelosi a lesson”
Sheila
Summer produce means CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), a fine way to assure yourself a summer of organic produce from a local grower. I believe most areas of the country have them, and I encourage everyone who does not grow their own vegetables (and no one I know has the resources to grow the amount of vegetables our subscription farm does) to look into this.
Texas Dem
Don’t uncork the champagne just yet. This fight isn’t over. To paraphrase Sir Winston, it’s not the end; it’s not even the beginning of the end. But it could be the end of the beginning. Along those lines, what are the odds the Senate GOP will successfully filibuster the defense bill? Isn’t that their only remaining option to stop DADT repeal?
Corner Stone
@Bad Horse’s Filly: Have a wedding to go to Saturday evening but otherwise – I will be grilling my balls off this long weekend.
Porterhouse tomorrow (probably). Sunday maybe ham steaks on the grill with a homemade baste. Monday will probably be chicken thighs and drums with a wicked hot marinade. But we’ll see how it all pans out. I’m pretty flexible.
Thanks for asking.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Mike Kay: Yes, I’m sure I haven’t said this today, but I hate these people. And, I for one, cannot wait for tomorrow to see how Obama has failed me, once again.
I cannot imagine trying to govern with all the noise.
Bad Horse's Filly
And btw, everything y’all are cooking sounds amazing. When should I be there?
Speaking of amazing, JeffreyW made the best looking bbq chicken I’ve ever seen yesterday.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
I posted this in an earlier thread, but I’m reposting it here. Officially, it’s because the open thread is the proper place for it. Unofficially, I just want some sympathy, dammit.
I’m at wits end. No progress on getting a job. With the end of school, my social life has completely disappeared. And Eddie is back in the hospital because he hasn’t been eating since he had oral surgery last week.
I’m just really down this evening.
Mike Kay
@Texas Dem: filbuster the bill and the military shuts down (no really, no bucks, no bullets) and the troops come home. Go ahead, make my day: if you filibuster the bill, the terrorist win.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Sheila: And if you eat poultry, pork or beef, there are now organic farms doing CSA type shares of these as well – if I can find the link I’ll post it. They sell in smaller portions than buying a pig or 1/2 side of beef.
Mike Kay
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): At times like this, I’ve always found comfort in tasty liquor.
Elisabeth
@Mike Kay:
heh. Don’t go outing any military folks yet. This ain’t over. It still awaits the final vote in October and the DoD’s review. There are great forces still aligned against it’s repeal but yes we’ve made progress … in a small but significant step.
Texas Dem
They’ll blame that on the Dems for “politicizing” the defense bill, and their talk radio/Fox news echo chamber will back them up. Like I said before, this isn’t over. Not by long shot.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Mike Kay: Me, too, but it’s not necessarily a good idea when you’re depressed and lonely.
Bad Horse's Filly
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): You know you’ve always got my good thoughts coming to you. I’m sorry about Eddie, too.
I told someone a while ago that when I was going through one of the lowest times of my life (which included losing several animals to illness), I felt like an empty olympic size pool, and even when good things happened, it felt like trying to fill the emptiness with a teaspoon. Finally (felt like an eternity) things turned around and in short order the pool was filled with good things again. But, to be honest, I still remember that empty feeling and it sucked and I’m very, very thankful for every good thing now.
I know things will turn around for you, but until then, we’re here.
Corner Stone
@Bad Horse’s Filly: I agree, that’s some hella tasty looking chicken. But until he invites us over for comparative tasting….??
How will we ever truly know?
Mike Kay
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): let me be serious, during transitional times, there is nothing wrong in asking your doctor for a prescription of Zoloft.
arguingwithsignposts
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): my thoughts are with you. hope some progress comes soon.
Corner Stone
Oh man. That homemade three cheese sauce mac & cheese is pretty dang tasty.
Just sayin’.
SiubhanDuinne
@Corner Stone:
Not for much longer, you aren’t.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Mike Kay: I’m on a bunch of stuff already.
debit
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): I’m sorry. Even though the job market is supposed to be improving, it’s slow going. Hang in there.
@thread: the recipes look yummy, especially the veggies. This spring I have been craving them like mad, so tomorrow I’m making another huge batch of gazpacho. Other than that, we’ll be having burgers and brats on the grill this weekend, maybe a tenderloin on Monday if they go on sale again.
EL
For anyone who needs some laughter, mosy on over to the repubs ridiculous site and read some more of the entries. Comedy gold is still coming in, including a few of my favorites:
and finally the wonderful
Anne Laurie
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): You have my condolences, for what they’re worth. We just spent some $3K establishing that the cat we were supposed to be “looking after for just a few months” six years ago has chronic renal failure (plus a massive mouth infection & some grit in her bladder). And she’s only around eight years old, dammit. So now it’s nightly hydration sessions and the prescription canned food… she’s doing better enough to start fighting the needle, but the Special Treatment is making the other cats and the dogs completely crazy.
Fern
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Yikes, that is a lot on your plate at once. I know from experience that isolation can be really hard to take. I hope things take a turn for the better – including on the job front.
Bad Horse's Filly
@debit: I think you should share your gazpacho recipe, if you’re willing.
Yutsano
@Bad Horse’s Filly: BTW that veggie dish is very close to a ratatouille. Which is fine by me because I LOVE ratatouille!
Keith
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
Here’s Thomas Keller’s gazpacho that’s served at The French Laundry. It’s really, really good (perfect proportion of seasonings, IMO).
Corner Stone
@SiubhanDuinne: Oooo….ouch…
Mnemosyne
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
This is going to sound really Ann Landers, but are there any local groups that you can volunteer your accounting skills for? I’m sure any nonprofit would be thrilled to get some free accounting, you could have something on your resume to paper over any employment gap, and it would get you out of the house and interacting with people.
Just an idea.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Mnemosyne:
If there are, they’ve been really quiet about it when I’ve asked.
MikeJ
@Mike Kay: :
As a reminder, on most bills they could simply pass their own version and fight it out in conference. However, all spending bills *must* originate in the House. Meaning the Senate can pass it or not, but they can’t start a new bill.
Toni
From Washington Post
James Carville… “seemed, in fact, to delight in hearing he had gotten under the president’s skin, noting that Obama had been defensive about criticism of his response during an East Room news conference.
“If he had one bullet and James Carville and [BP chief executive] Tony Hayward were sitting there, who would he shoot? I wouldn’t take my chances,” Carville said.”
I have no problems with Carville criticizing the response but this suggestion that Obama would want to shoot him seems too much.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Yutsano: I originally called it Garden Ratatouille, but since the veggies weren’t stewed I thought someone might mention it (not naming names here, but last time squirrels were involved).
Cheryl from Maryland
@Bad Horse’s Filly: I’m planning to make — Julie Sahni’s tandoori Chicken recipe which is easy to do in a home oven (buy the cookbook at :), rice with peaches and pistachios, banana raita with almonds and raisins. Also grilled buffalo burgers with tarragon butter inside topped with blue cheese, roast potatoes and farmer’s market asparagus. Oh, and farmer’s market strawberries dipped in chocolate.
Bother, messed up the link. Just get Ms. Sahni’s cookbook!
Tattoosydney
Hi BHF – hope you are well.
No holiday weekend here, but last weekend I whipped up a batch of Piri Piri oil to use on chicken, which would be perfect for a barbecue.
Although the chillies are originally from Mozambique, in Portuguese cooking this oil is used for a huge range of dishes. It has a wonderful flavour and a subtle (not too subtle) heat, that somehow mellows and intensifies with storage.
My recipe is an amalgam of recipes from a lovely Portuguese cookbook called “Piri piri starfish” by Tessa Kiros, another book by David Leite called “The New Portuguese Table” (which is ok), and a bit of experimenting.
These measurements are all infinitely variable. It’s really easy and takes about half an hour to make a big jar full. For a basic piri piri oil, you will need:
Half a litre of good olive oil
12 fresh chillis – piri piri for choice but any good hot ones will do
12 dried chillis
2 to 3 tsp of salt
3 or 4 or even more cloves of garlic
2 tsp of sugar or honey
the zest and juice of half a lemon
1/2 a cup of whisky
1/4 of a cup of vinegar (any sort really, but I use red wine vinegar)
some bay leaves
This last batch, I also added some fresh rosemary, some fresh ginger and some coriander root.
Chop your dry ingredients roughly, and put about 3/4 of them (chillies, salt, garlic, sugar or honey, lemon zest, and any other bits, but NOT the bay leaf) in a food processor and process till they are a bit chunky and a bit mulchy.
Put a huge glug of olive oil in a fry pan on a medium heat, add the reserved dry ingredients, plus about half of what is in the food processor, plus the bay leaves, and fry on a gentle heat for a little while. Then add the whisky, the lemon juice and the vinegar, and continue frying/simmering it gently, as long as you want – five minutes or twenty minutes, depending on your taste. I like to do it for a while, so the chilli caramelises a bit and the liquids are reduced. When it is almost done, add in whatever is left in the food processor to add a fresh edge.
Don’t breathe in it too deeply over the pan while you are making it because it will strip the hairs off the inside of your nose.
Put the lot in a big jar, and fill the jar up with more olive oil. Use straight away or keep it so the flavour develops. I keep mine in the fridge.
To use on chicken, put chicken of any kind (thighs are good, as are breasts) in a bowl with the juice of a lemon, the lemon halves, some dried oregano, a lot of chopped garlic, some paprika and some salt. Marinate for at least half an hour, then cook on a hot grill. When you turn it, baste the cooked side with the piri piri oil with lots of the bits mixed in, and make sure it gets turned three times, so you get black crunchy bits. Don’t overcook it though.
Yum.
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
That sounds, er, not tasty.
Corner Stone
@Toni: Just desperate for relevance, like all paid pundits.
Who cares what he says.
Yutsano
@Bad Horse’s Filly: Seriously? Folks need to lighten up and stuff. Ratatouille isn’t always stewed, it can in fact be simmered on the stove or even quick sauteed, it all depends on your time and your preference.
@Tattoosydney: I love making flavoured oils, the end result is always worth the work. It actually isn’t a ton of stuff to do, you just sit back and let the oil absorb whatever flavoring you desire. My personal fave is rosemary/garlic oil. The best part of this recipe is you’re demonstrating the method for making just about any flavoured oil. And yes I’m deferring to proper British spelling just for you. :)
Steeplejack
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
Try giving Eddie some cream or milk to drink. Maybe even some beef broth. His teeth probably hurt, so that’s why he doesn’t want to eat (chew).
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack: Yeah…ummm.
I’ll be doing a great deal of grilling this weekend.
And it will be tasty as I can mofo cook.
If there’s one thing I can do, it’s -finger roll- cook.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Tattoosydney:
Well that would save on nose clippers.
Barring that, the rest of it sounds wonderful.
Tattoosydney
@Tattoosydney:
Heavens. I didn’t realise how long that was.
Mnemosyne
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
Well, they all suck, then. :-) But even some regular ol’ volunteering might help a bit. When my depression was really bad, I was unemployed, and I couldn’t afford medication, volunteering at the American Cinematheque was one of the things that kept me going. Plus, free movies!
Tattoosydney
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
It’s not pleasant. I forgot myself the first time I made it and took a big whiff and had to go sit down for a while. Thankfully once it’s cooked it smells fabulous.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Yutsano: Oh, it was all in good fun. Seems my Brunswick Stew didn’t have enough squirrel in it to be authentic.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Tattoosydney: I was thinking of cross-posting it to my blog if you’re okay with that.
Yutsano
@Bad Horse’s Filly: Oh because it’s just SO HARD to swap out the chicken for squirrel. I’m as much of a food snob as anyone, however I will not touch the rats with bushy tails with a ten foot pole, plus if they’ve ever ordered it in any restaurant it didn’t have squirrel in it either (as far as I know you can’t get commercially available squirrel meat that passes USDA inspection). So there. They can just get over it.
Fern
@BruceFromOhio: Tandoori chicken on the grill is fabulous! Doing that on Sunday when I have family in from out of town.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: By the by are you still under the weather or has your health situation improved?
Tattoosydney
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
I would be happy for you to.
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
Hello. I hope you’re feeling chipper.
Yes, I am under the weather. I have a cough that I can’t shake off, but have pills to kill the bug that is causing it. I’m working from home, which today, thankfully, has not involved too much work. Lots of sleep is the answer.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: If you can have Bradley bring you home a bowl of chicken pho or just good chicken soup, I do highly recommend it. I basically told work to go to hell for the entire week and I’ll deal with the consequences if any) on Monday. I’m finding myself caring less and less, I just got fucking cut open. You don’t exactly bounce back from that in a day. So maybe not chipper inasmuch as feisty, which may even be better.
planetjanet
Is our DougJ stirring up trouble about heliocentrism?
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Mnemosyne:
Mostly, it’s tough to get such a position unless you’re a CPA, and particularly a member of MSCPA.
Now, I’ve passed all four of the CPA exams, but to actually be a CPA, you also have to have worked for a CPA for a year so that they can vouch for you. So, I see lots and lots of jobs that require a CPA, but, until someone will hire me, I can’t become a CPA.
Yutsano
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): That sounds like a beautiful Catch-22 there. I wish I had a better answer for you. I was going to suggest relocation but if your main issue is licensing then yeah that can be a tough bear to wrestle.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Steeplejack: Eddie is spending the night at the University of Minnesota Small Animal Hospital. He’s got a number of things going on, and they want to see if they can figure out what it is. The really good news is that there’s no evidence of his cancer returning. The bad news is that he just had significant oral surgery (one root canal, one full extraction, and five crown removals), he’s licked all of the fur off of his tummy and down the inside of one thigh (we don’t know why yet; I managed to get an antihistamine into him for a couple of days and that seemed to help before it became impossible to pill him), and his liver enzyme results are too high (again, we don’t know why).
To some extent, it’s the sheer volume of things going wrong with him that have me pessimistic.
Corner Stone
@planetjanet: Obviously.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Yutsano: The evidence I’ve had is that the answer is to get your accounting degree when you’re 24 rather than 42, and to make sure you do your undergraduate work as a student in the business school, so that you get internship offers. My undergraduate degree is in statistics and I took all of my accounting courses (prior to the masters program) through the College of Continuing Education. That meant that I was taking the exact same classes as the b-school students, and paying the same tuition as the b-school students, but I didn’t have access to all (read: any) of the services they used, such as the placement office.
I’m not opposed to relocation. The two big obstacles are:
1) I have four cats. If I had two, it would be a lot easier to find an apartment;
2) Minnesota is just about the only state in the nation where I can get health insurance at the moment, so I don’t want to give up residence here.
Though, as sadly said above, I’m worried that problem one is going to start resolving itself.
robertdsc
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
I’m keeping good thoughts for you.
suzanne
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Hugs. I have no sage advice or pertinent personal experience to share, but you’re in my thoughts.
mclaren
How about some recipes more suited for the current economy?
For example, a recipe for tomato soup made from the free ketchup packets and the hot tap water in a Burger King bathroom…
scav
well, here, in in spirit of OT-ish-ness, we’ve not bothered the Catholic Hierarchy in a while. New Twist: some priests’ mistresses have written an open letter to the Pope asking him to ditch celibacy.
Steeplejack
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
My sympathies on the Eddie situation. It’s always tough, because they can’t communicate whether (or how) they’re hurting.
I wonder if Eddie might be licking/grooming because he has a weird taste/feeling in his mouth from the surgery.
Anne Laurie
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Off the wall suggestion: Are there any community gardens in your area? It’s probably too late to reserve your own plot, but you can still go and check out what your neighbors are doing. And if those neighbors are anything like most gardeners, they (a) will be glad to talk your ears off about what they’re growing, why, how, and with what goals; and (b) can always use an extra pair of hands for moving dirt, tying up plants, or weeding.
There may also be some kind of public park volunteer program looking for people to weed, mulch & pick up trash. It won’t help with your resume, but at least it’s an incentive to get out and move around…
Corner Stone
@mclaren: Well, not quite that extreme but I recently made 5 meals out of this:
1 pound ground chuck – $1.99
1 pkg small elbow macaroni – $.87
1 can 16oz diced tomatoes – $1.15
1 can 12oz tomato sauce – $.60
1 medium white onion – $.40
So for about $5 I had 5 tasty meals. Of course that’s not including the powder spices, salt, pepper cost. And a couple times I had crackers and cheddar cheese with it.
But still. If you needed to add a can of corn or hominy to this for another $.60 you could easily get 5 meals for under $7.
Fitzwili
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
How about something simple on Craigslist as a stopgap.
You could put an ad up to tutor Quickbooks for instance or vanilla bookkeeping etc
Its way less that what you are trained for as an accountant but people need to be tutored in the simple stuff
Fitzwili
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
Also bookkeeping firms are a possibility – you could start temping there. Most bookkeeping firms have very tight relationships with CPA offices and that might be your foot in the door. It seems so unfair to have to take a job that you are so overqualified( meaning your CPA masters) for but think of it as a means to an end!
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
Feisty is good.
I just want to sleep for two days without wondering whether there is a work email I have to deal with. Thank god for the weekend, which starts in about two hours.
asiangrrlMN
@scav: OK, I am not clicking, but your link sentence made me laugh.
@Tattoosydney:
@Yutsano:
Squeeee! Both of my fake hubbies on one thread at the same time? I swoon from giddiness. And from the fact that for once, I am not the sickest person in the room! Both of y’all need to get better (and yes, Yutsy, I know you’re not sick, but still).
jeffreyw., I seriously lust after that pie.
As for cooking….I don’t cook. I prefer to have others cook for me.
robertdsc
After I left one job some years ago, I remember waking up at 1 AM the day after my final day worried to death that my favorite CSR was not going to have her jobs done after I was gone. LOL. I was really wired into that place and sometimes I miss it even though it’s been many years since I’ve worked there.
Tattoosydney
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
The only thing I forgot to mention in my original post is that a big jar will do probably seven or eight meals for a family and generally last for months in the fridge.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I am slowly improving, but when I hurt so bad that I can’t get out of bed then yeah work is going on the back burner. At least I have the next two days off to myself and maybe I’ll be okay enough to venture out some. I am getting better though I promise!
@Tattoosydney: You’re either teasing or in huge trouble. If you’ve been in Minnesota without telling wifey she may just haz to spank you. Then again she was in Taiwan for a month and didn’t bother to fly south, so I guess you’re both even there.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Howdy. Next time I am in Minnesota I will cook piri piri chicken for you. It burns the outside of your mouth, but not the inside, the good Portuguese way.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Yes. I think it’s a good thing that you prioritized your health over your job. I’m glad you are taking it easy and being good to yourself.
@Tattoosydney: Mmmmmm, I would like that. I like spicy, flavorful food. And, just as a point of reference, have you even been to MN?
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN:
DON’T ANSWER! IT’S A TRAP!!
(wait, I wasn’t supposed to talk here was I? Maybe I should just go back to…oh look! an elephant!)
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Yutsano:
So, you’re hiding from your wife’s wrath somewhere in Africa? Or India?
Yutsano
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): In order to hide from THAT wrath I’ll need to be in another galaxy if not a completely different universe.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
No. I went to America when I was 4, and spent time in Virginia and Florida (visiting friends my parents had met in Hawaii – most notably a couple from Florida who had each been married eight times, three of those to each other, and a lovely older couple from Virginia who took us to see Monticello), and Washington DC (where we lucked into a private tour with a tour guide who apparently breezed past rope barriers and knew every secret service agent by name, and had us wandering round the kitchens and the private offices), and both Disneyland and Disneyworld (my poor parents). I even fed squirrels and chipmunks in a Chinese garden in San Francisco.
But we never went to Minnesota.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: That’s what I thought. So, promises promises!
@Yutsano: No kidding. You could feel the heat of my wrath all the way in Seattle if I so chose.
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): You made a funny!
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
True. It’s a genuine promise though. Just not one that is likely to be fulfilled for a while. I’d cook it for you in Sydney too.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: That actually sounds like a fun trip even for an American. I’m also one of the lucky few to have gone to both Disney theme parks, and haven’t paid to get in once. It’s called neat work if you can get it, but if you do it right it really is a fun time.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: That would be even more awesome. If I go to Australia, I’ll drag Yutsy with me.
@Yutsano: I’ve been to both as well! And, I didn’t pay either time, either. Unfortunately, I do not like amusement parks except for the rides.
P.S. FYWPwaRPF
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: She’ll have to drag me kicking and screaming. Oh yes. She’ll practically have to throw me on the plane. Just watch me pitch a fit when I go down that Qantas jetway. I’ll complain the whole flight too, especially if we get stuck in that damn first class and I’m forced to imbibe Australian wines the whole flight.
/sarcasm
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
QANTAS. Hee.
ETA: To change video link to a better quality video, and to deal with the fact that links don’t show up under all capitals.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: I was hoping you’d post that again!
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Yeah, right. Whatevs. You will be pulling me out of my shoes and my bra in order to get on the damn plane.
@Tattoosydney: Inside joke?
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
Valerie from American Airlines.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Okay fine. I’ll settle for business class but that’s my final offer! Oh and you bet your bippie I’ll meet you for that flight from LAX!
@Tattoosydney: I sense a schtick here. She is damn funny however.
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
Her entire routine is being rude about airlines while in different hostie outfits. She’s hilarious live – her audience is always half or more airline staff, so she calls them on stage and (usually to their delight) humiliates them or flirts outrageously with them, while flinging insults at the audience.
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
This makes me laugh.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: I think it’s because she gets right to the truth of the matter there: flight attendants are amazingly good at doing as little as possible while looking horrendously busy at the same time. We’ve all seen it, hell I usually never get a drink until the flight is at least half over regardless of the length of the flight. And the gay male ones are a thousand times worse, mostly because they throw the “HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ME!!” look in there as well. She’s pretty damn awesome I must say.
BTW showed a friend of mine Sushi cat tonight. I think I lost him to it because he hasn’t communicated with me in over an hour.
Joseph Nobles
Just in case no one has seen this over at Tbogg’s, the owner of the Alaska house next door to the Palins’ sought out Joe McGinniss to live there since the Palins stiffed her on improvements to their property.
Yutsano
@Joseph Nobles: Link not working, but yeah I think we discussed, laughed, and mocked as necessary. At least TBogg isn’t going all Sully about this. He did put up puppeh pics tonight as well.
asiangrrlMN
FYWP, Part I:
@Tattoosydney:
@Yutsano:
She’s funny as hell and right on the money. Sushi cat rulz.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: “Touch the trolley…”
You realize we’ll be saying that back and forth to each other and giggling like mad and no one will understand what the hell it means. All you gotta love inside jokes.
asiangrrlMN
FYWP, Part II
@Joseph Nobles: I saw that. It doesn’t surprise me. I used to read the ‘flats religiously, and the one thing I discovered is that the Palins will knife anyone in the back–or the front. Low-class (but expensive) grifters are they.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Especially Americans who don’t know how to speak proper English!
And, I love the Nancy Sinatra vibe she’s got going on.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Warning – this routine includes one of the worst songs ever written.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I didn’t get a good look but I’d bet money she has boots on that would make Nancy turn green with envy. Seems to fit her style rather nicely.
Anne Laurie
Here’s the TBogg link. The man has a genius for juxtaposition, doesn’t he?
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Yes. I believe she wrote it herself. Now, you owe me a Kylie Minogue video.
Goddamn it. I hate WP.
Yutsano
@Anne Laurie: I know, I know, I know he’s a happily married heterosexual man, but I would sooo do TBogg. I would. Seriously. Although I’ve seen his wife and the man does have good taste.
@Tattoosydney: Now what could she possibly be insinuating in that routine? Besides the fact that some gay men are all about atrocities in music.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: My post to you about a certain movie about boots of a not-normal nature keeps disappearing. I am obsessed with her boots. They are fab.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I just have to satisfy you and get a rub in on FH # 1 at the same time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q0DAGVdvTc
BTW they should have shown more of the Swedes during that.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Ha! Either he or I posted that before. Sigh. She’s my guilty pleasure.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Ok.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
This one comes with a phallic spaceship.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: You did that on purpose. Now wifey shall have many delicious dreams of Kylie while she attempts her early morning nap. Not that that’s a bad thing, Kylie is an incredible woman.
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
This version is better, because it has shirtless dancing boys in feathers.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: How is it that I’ve never heard or seen that before? OH MYYYYYY! I less than three you! On to the phallic spaceship. I think one of us posted the second version of Dancing Queen you just posted before, too. That’s a very tasty video all around.
And, I did not like the pink frou-frou spaceship one.
@Yutsano: She’s got IT, and she knows it. That’s powerfully sexy.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: You can tell by the way she’s singing that this is closer to the end of the night and she’s trying to not not push her voice too hard. But considering she’s even alive to be on that stage at all I think it’s remarkable she keeps going like she is.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Yup. And, I like the lower registers better, anyway. I like husky voices. And, the acoustic guitar player is easy on the eyes as well. Yes, the boys in the feathers dancing energetically are nice, but I have more of a chance with the guitar player.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I admire her a lot. Hell I liked her when she first hit the US and I was a stupid kid then. Knowing what all she’s lived through the fact that she’s made a fantastic career just must make life all the sweeter for her. She did get treated in Australia yes?
EDIT: According to teh Wiki yes. Damn Australia and its sociaIist health care!!
Tattoosydney
I’m sharing one of my favourite Mardi Gras (Sydney, that is) moments… Olivia Newton John performing Xanadu – I was about ten people back for this, and screamed my lungs out. They had been trying to get her to perform for years (decades?), but she had always said no. The best bit of all was the end, where she stood almost dumbstruck at about 15000 queens giving her possibly the biggest ovation of her life, and the expression on her face was “Why the fuck haven’t I done this before?”.
Video quality is crap, but you get the idea.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: She looks fab! I can’t believe she didn’t want to feel the love before that. That had to have been awesome for you.
@Yutsano: No kidding. Plus, she was the Green Fairy in Moulin Rouge. Yum. But, yes. She has fortitude and sockulist health care.
@Tattoosydney: As it should be. As your (fake) wife, do I have access to the Aussie health care system?
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
The first response of any Australian expat with a serious medical condition is “Get me the fuck back to Australia”, yes.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: Just out of curiosity, a marriage performed in Canada is automatically recognized in Australia yes? I would think there was some sort of Commonwealth recognition law. And yes I’m going somewhere with this.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Where exactly are you going with this? #Cough# ex #cough#.
Tattoosydney
It might be…
For 99% of legal purposes it would not matter, I suspect, provided the people also met the legal definition of “de facto” …
/expecting block quote fail
Tattoosydney
@Tattoosydney:
Serious blockquote fail and lack of edit function for the win.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Wait, so a gay marriage isn’t recognized? I thought you had the common law thing going on.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: The ex is (or was last I heard from him) employed by Air Canada, which does fly from Vancouver from Sydney. But there is a type of marriage recognized in Canada that does apply to me yes.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: Actually you’re missing the really huge legal loophole:
In other words, you get married in Canada, go back to Australia, show the marriage certificate, according to this you’re married and you could fight it in court.
@Tattoosydney: Australian law is really confusing me. Things are illegal unless they’re not. Sigh. Y’all need a Talmudic scholar to go through your legal code I swear.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Yes, we do… if two men or two women have lived together for two years as a committed couple, then they have all of the rights of a married couple, except a certificate with “marriage” on it…
so any couple who met that definition who lived overseas would have the same legal rights as any married couple married overseas…
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: I know it is in Canada. But, apparently, not transferable to Australia, especially as neither of you are Aussie citizens. I don’t know if that matters or not.
@Tattoosydney: That’s what I thought. I remember you explaining it to me before.
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
Hmmmm.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: Not that I’m necessarily trying to plant ideas in your head, but honestly with that much legal ambiguity it would be very difficult to say a legal binding marriage in Canada isn’t recognized just because the two parties are of the same gender. Especially if the Canadian government has formalized the union on paper. I’m actually quite amazed no one has thought to try this. Or it’s possible they have and it went nowhere I don’t know, I don’t really have access to Australian legal journals.
Yutsano
And on that note my pillow calls me. Night wifey-poo, FH #1 feel better okay?
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
I’ll try. tonight involves pizza and sleep in that order. yay
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Night, hon. Keep taking it easy.
@Tattoosydney: Day to you, hon. Get better with the pizza and sleep. Later.
debit
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
I’ve made it so often that I don’t really have an actual recipe, but I can tell you how I go about making it:
Coarsely chop then place in large bowl:
Several large tomatoes (or even more Romas)
2 large peeled and seeded cucumbers
One each sweet red and yellow pepper (or green, or whatever)
Approx one onion (I use a mix of Vidalia, red and green)
Add:
A few cloves of garlic that have been through a press (I use a whole bud, but I love garlic)
The juice of 1 to 2 lemons
About a cup of olive oil
Your herb/s of choice. If making just for myself, I use cilantro, but since my daughter is a hater, I usually chiffonade some fresh basil.
Sea salt and ground white pepper to taste.
Barely cover with tomato juice and let sit in fridge for at least a couple of hours before serving. Cover bowl tightly, obviously.
Optional variations: some people run it through a food processor, but I prefer the texture and the crunch of leaving it chunky. Others use vinegar, but lemon juice gives it a bright taste vinegar can’t duplicate. A friend of mine will blanch the tomatoes and remove the skin before chopping; she finds it makes the gazpacho juicer and reduces the need to add additional juice but that seems like too much work for me. If I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll make some homemade croutons (sauté garlic in olive oil, remove garlic, raise heat, toss in bread cubes and “toast” until crisp). Finally, Roma tomatoes seem to hold up better and have a richer, meatier taste. If they’re available, I prefer to use them.
Warnings: Using the Holy Trinity of garlic, lemon and basil will make you want to nom your own fingers. Do not attempt!
True story: I first made this in 8th grade Home Ec for “International Week” and invited my Spanish teacher Mr. Lillo to be my guest. He told us that in Spain it was considered rude to have one hand on your lap under the table. I’ve never been to Spain (but I kinda like the music) and yet I still make sure to keep both hands visible while dining. After all, I can’t disappoint Mr. Lillo.