Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

This fight is for everything.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Consistently wrong since 2002

The revolution will be supervised.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Why did Dr. Oz lose? well, according to the exit polls, it’s because Fetterman won.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

The willow is too close to the house.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

This blog will pay for itself.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

I really should read my own blog.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

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185Comments

  3. 3.

    Quaker in a Basement

    For the best grilled cheese of all time:

    Get a thick slice of ham (or turkey, or leftover chicken) and roughly chop it
    Grate about a half cup of good cheese (save those “American slices” for when a 3-year-old comes to visit)
    Place the meat and cheese in a bowl and spoon in 2-3 tablespoons of sour cream
    Add a couple of dashes of worcestershire and a couple of shakes of dry mustard powder (or a squirt or two of stone ground mustard). Throw in a handful of finely chopped onion if you like.

    Forget the butter. Heat some olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Peel and crush a clove of garlic and drop it in the oil. Sautee the garlic clove until it’s brown, then remove it. (This is just to infuse the oil)

    Spread the meat/cheese mixture on thick slices of sourdough and place the sandwich in the skillet. Grill until brown, flip it and repeat.

  4. 4.

    Kristine

    My company cafeteria featured that combo just the other day.

    Then there a local neighborhood restaurant that adds bacon and sliced tomato to their grilled cheese. It’s pretty good, but I don’t want to eat for the rest of the day.

  6. 6.

    Jim, Once

    That’s soul food for me – “remembering my mom making that for me on winter Saturday afternoons” food.

  7. 7.

    eemom

    sounds yummy.

    When I visited the UK a thousand years ago, I discovered cheese and tomato sandwiches. Those are good too.

  9. 9.

    maus

    My fave grilled cheese to go with the soup is- marscapone + cream cheese with chives, buttered and pan-toasty.

  13. 13.

    tufdaawg

    i much prefer a toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwich with tomato soup. and it has to be trader joe’s peanut butter (the kind with the oil that you have to mix in – it is the best).

  14. 14.

    Violet

    I’m having leftover curry. I have to make some more rice, though. I’m going to have a peach for dessert. Yesterday I had a mango with it. That was amazing.

  15. 15.

    JenJen

    Mmmm, comfort food.

    You know what’s really yummy? Crack open an egg, fry it sunny-side-up, and slap that on top of your grilled cheese. Croque Monsieur! Delightful, especially with really good bread.

  16. 16.

    Fergus Wooster

    Mmm, I’ve been planning to do Thomas Keller’s version for awhile – grilled cheese (gruyere on brioche) with tomato soup (gazpacho).

    At least I’ve made the brioche. . .

  17. 17.

    mr. whipple

    Sounds perfect, as it doesn’t involve mincing or other such fancy-pantsery.

  18. 18.

    Garrigus Carraig

    @Quaker in a Basement: You shouldn’t have bothered, since you’ll be stripped of your citizenship anyway. What country do you think this is? Why can’t you enjoy grilled Velveeta on margarine-coated Wonder bread like the rest of us?

  21. 21.

    Politically Lost

    Work forced me to lake county today. Yet there was no actual work for me to do, so I ended up having to spend the afternoon wondering about the metopolis better known as lakeport, California today. I found a used book store and bought some fluff to read then wandered about the town and found a pleasant little park right next to Clearlake. I sprawled out on the grass and read and watched ducks mate/fight and had a perfect view of the green mountains surrounding the lake.

    I wish all my workdays could be like this.

  22. 22.

    Jenn

    On a totally non-food front, it looks like Harry Reid is working toward energy legislation that would also include dealing with oversight of offshore drilling; he’s wanting the relevant committees to aim towards July 4. It may be some pretty good political maneuvering, we’ll see! Hopefully we’ll get some decent energy legislation in addition to strengthened rules & regs.

    http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_06/024096.php

    Fingers crossed!

  23. 23.

    Zam

    Funny thing. A guy I work with will not stop talking about grilled cheese and tomato soup, almost every day mentions it about 3 times. He says it’s the most American meal of all time, though he isn’t from America to begin with so I don’t think he knows shit.

  26. 26.

    Corner Stone

    Grilled pork chops with the bone in, and using a hoisin sauce/honey/fish sauce/soy sauce/red pepper flake glaze.
    Over cheesy mashed potatoes using red potatoes sliced thin and three kinds of fresh grated cheese.
    IOW, good times.

  27. 27.

    mr. whipple

    Hot dogs, baked beans and a nice, fresh garden spinach salad with blueberry cream dressing.

  29. 29.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Meh unless it is Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup (AKA “always makes things better soup” ) it doesn’t count. That campbells condensed crap doesn’t cut it.

  31. 31.

    Josie

    @Quaker in a Basement: omg – that sounds so good! I’ve been making sourdough bread lately and love it so much. I copied and pasted your recipe and will try it very soon. Thanks.

  32. 32.

    Anne Laurie

    @eemom:

    Still doesn’t make up for Ross Doughtwat.

    I always read his name “Doubt-that”, myself. It encapsulates the problems with his writing, without needlessly insulting one of my favorite body parts (two, if you count the layer of protective pink insulation… )

  34. 34.

    abo gato

    If any of you with a good curry recipe would put it up here, I would love you forever. I am making a Sambar soup right now, but no grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it, instead I’ll make naan bread based on the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes guys…..you take their basic wet dough, about an orange size of it, roll it out, heat a cast iron skillet on medium high, add a tablespoon of ghee, plop the dough in, cover the pan and set your timer for 2 1/2 minutes. Time’s up, flip the dough with some tongs and add another teaspoon or so of the ghee, lid on again and another 2 1/2 minutes. Holy fucking shit is this some good bread! Five minutes of cooking, no heating up the oven, the dough is chewy and soft and you will think you have died and gone to food heaven. Trust me, if you try this bread you will love me forever.

  36. 36.

    MikeJ

    Just chopped up some beef of some sort (forget what, but it was pretty cheap), and it is now marinating in beer and adobo and chipotles and lime juice for another 1.5-2 hours. Mmmm. Fajitas.

  37. 37.

    Anne Laurie

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Meh unless it is Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup (AKA “always makes things better soup” ) it doesn’t count. That campbells condensed crap doesn’t cut it.

    My Irish granny (who was actually born in Swansea to an Orange family) always mixed the Campbells condensed tomato with half-and-half, plus an extra dollop of sour cream for serving.

  38. 38.

    Andre

    @JenJen:

    There’s French deli/bakery around the corner from my house that does amazing Croque Monsieurs with ham, melted cheese and aioli.

    As to the soup! I’m a fan of the French tradition of melted cheese on toast dropped directly on top of the soup.

  39. 39.

    Politically Lost

    Cornerstone:

    my wife just saw my facebook status update, saying essentialy the same thing…

    I think she’s got first dibs, and I know she kicks with her right. Just line up behind her.

  40. 40.

    Cacti

    I guess this makes me elitist, but…

    Processed, sliced, American cheese is f**king awful.

  41. 41.

    Ocotillo

    Oh wow, it has been literally decades since I have had that, guess I may make it tomorrow!!

  42. 42.

    Comrade Kevin

    @Anne Laurie:

    My Irish granny (who was actually born in Swansea to an Orange family) always mixed the Campbells condensed tomato with half-and-half, plus an extra dollop of sour cream for serving.

    Sounds like the English in her.

  44. 44.

    J.W. Hamner

    I don’t make things like grilled cheese often enough… stuff that you can put together relatively quickly. The only equivalent is an omelet, which I’ll gladly make for dinner. I tend to focus on making big dishes and then munching on the leftovers for days… I don’t “whip up” very much.

  45. 45.

    Anne Laurie

    Speaking of kitchen stories, does anyone have a recommendation for a good, reliable small (one- or two-cup) food processor? We’re not dedicated cooks here, don’t need a professional-level machine that will make pizza dough for a 40-person dinner party. I just want something that will turn a handful of basil leaves into pesto, or chunk fresh veggies into gazpaucho, at a price point that won’t cause my devoutly frugal Spousal Unit to bleed from the eyeballs. All suggestions duly appreciated…

  46. 46.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @abo gato:

    I can’t help you on the curry recipe really cause mine consists of two basic ingredients cooked chicken (usually the left over roast chicken from sunday dinner) and diced potatoes, everything else it whatever I have lying around, veggies etc., I use a really nice curry powder that I get from World Market, and let it simmer for hours. I then serve it with rice and a boat load of stuff to pile on top, chopped cucumber, onion, tomato, celery, and a healthy heap of mango chutney. BTW I know you probably won’t believe this but Wal Mart does a really nice garlic Naan bread. I tried it when it was reduced one time and I have to say it is actually very nice.

  48. 48.

    MikeJ

    @Anne Laurie: Got a decent blender? Look for asymmetrical blades so it’s less likely to just push stuff in a circle and more likely to chop. I do 90%+ of my food processing with my Shun 8″ chef’s knife and a $30 blender from Target.

  49. 49.

    aimai

    @abo gato:

    Abo Gato: I love that book. I make their brioche all the time and then roll little balls of the dough and stuff them with chocolate ganache or home made lemon curd. They make insanely good, and insanely easy, home made chocolate brioche. I’ll definitely try the naan recipe.

    These days the thing I love is Migas, made the way they make it at Sofra. Basically take any quantity of stale bread and cut it up into cubes. Sautee it with onions, garlic,shredded salami or chorizo or if you are vegetarian use chipotle peppers in adobo. You can add mushrooms and asparagus, too. And if you swing that way you can throw a poached egg on top. Its the most delicious breakfast in the world. But a bit like stone soup. Its an incredibly cheap meal, since its based on those bread ends you have lying around. But eventually you’ve added enough other stuff that its gotten a bit more expensive. But really, if you want the flavor of the meat you can flavor an entire meal with just a few thin slices.

    aimai

  50. 50.

    Comrade Tank Hueco

    Speaking of cheese, Starbucks’s jalepeno-cheese stuffed pretzels are awesome. Just ate one and am dangerously close to having another.

  51. 51.

    Rosalita

    hoisin sauce/honey/fish sauce/soy sauce/

    equal parts? that sounds really good

  52. 52.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Cacti:

    I actually think that “American Cheese” should be reported to the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive advertizing. It is what we call in the UK “processed cheese” or what my old Daddy used to call “pretend cheese” (AKA the absolutely cheapest junk you could buy at the supermarket) he also used to call cheese spread “invisible cheese” so there is that.

    I have to admit to being a cheese snob (and proud of it) I have sat outside a pub in Cheddar Gorge and eaten a ploughman’s lunch made with cheese that was that morning still maturing in the caves. There is nothing like it on Earth.

  57. 57.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Violet:

    Me too, ditto Heinz baked beans, at a pinch I will go for Asda’s own baked beans. Heinz baked beans are an icon in the UK, they are the PB&J of English food, it is what you got fed when you got home from school. Heinz beans on toast has sustained an entire generation of Brits. And this 50 year old ex-pat still thinks that heinz beans on toast is the best meal ever.

  58. 58.

    Corner Stone

    @Rosalita: I eyeballed it. I needed a thick glaze more than a liquid marinade. So, maybe 1/2 bottle of hoisin with 3 good tablespoons of honey, a couple squirts of fish sauce, a nice measure of soy sauce and a palmful of red pepper flake.
    And it’s dang good, so say myself.

    It’s also pretty awesome on a bone-in ribeye. A little sweet, a little salty, with a nice pop for a finish.

  59. 59.

    Chuck Butcher

    If you don’t use Tillamook it is just a wanna be cheeze sammich. Now if you use the Special Reserve you’re going too far and are an elitist.

  61. 61.

    HRA

    Yes, I have to have my tomatos soup made with milk or cream. Ever tried adding cooked rice to the tomato soup made with water and adding grated parmesan or romano on top?

    I, too get a taste for grilled cheese sandwich once in a long time. I like mine with creamy provolone and tomato now.

  62. 62.

    abo gato

    @aimai, oh I love their Brioche too! You can do so much with it. Love to make their sticky cinnamon rolls when we feel extremely decadent..

    I like your idea of the brioche balls stuffed with lemon curd…..that sounds great!

    Around here, migas is stale corn tortillas not bread, with lots of onions, tomatoes, cheese and jalapenos. I like chilaquiles instead as that adds scrambled eggs into the tortilla mix. My favorite test of a Mexican restaurant that I have not been to before…..how are the chilaquiles?

  66. 66.

    Jenn

    Hey, a great blogpost by Marc Ambinder about journalism – I am officially heartened. May more journalists follow his lead!

    I suppose I began to get angry, really angry, at the destructive force of denialism, and the way in which some people in my chosen profession were donning blinders to prevent engaging with it.
    […]
    I could go on and on. We pick our battles and draw our lines, and I guess I’ve drawn mine. If Republicans seem to be adopting crazy, untethered beliefs more frequently than Democrats, and if it’s my job to notice these things, I’m probably going to say something about it. (I’m also going to say that liberals tend to be far more obnoxious in their criticism than conservatives. And, in the Obama era, their criticisms of administration policy are much more trenchant and effective; where were smart conservatives in the Bush era?)

    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/06/-pdf10-truth-telling-and-shaming/57608/#disqus_thread

  67. 67.

    MikeJ

    @Cat Lady:

    She’s finding a cure for cancer, and she’s still very young.

    Bah. We can just ask people to come up with their own ideas about how to solve the problem and let them post DK diaries.

    Hasn’t the gulf tragedy taught us that experts are teh suxx0r and only the wisdom of the crowd of people who don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about can save us?

  68. 68.

    demo woman

    @Litlebritdifrnt: My children grew up thinking that plain rice cakes and american cheese were snacks for the dogs. One son came home mortified because he saw a teacher eating a rice cake and assumed it was dog food.
    My children are cheese snobs also

  70. 70.

    Violet

    @Cat Lady:
    Wow, that’s really cool!

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I have to admit to being a cheese snob (and proud of it) I have sat outside a pub in Cheddar Gorge and eaten a ploughman’s lunch made with cheese that was that morning still maturing in the caves. There is nothing like it on Earth.

    I’m something of a cheese snob, too. Have you been to the British Cheese Festival? It’s on my list of things to do, right behind the Chocolate Show in NYC.

  71. 71.

    Cat Lady

    @MikeJ:

    Yes. Subject Matter Experts should just give up and start posting technical snark on Sadly, No.

  73. 73.

    Violet

    @Litlebritdifrnt:
    The “on toast” thing cracks me up. Brits do so many things “on toast” – cheese on toast, eggs on toast, beans on toast. I just want toast, maybe with butter and jam. But I don’t want to put everything on it. It’s a definite difference between the way Brits eat and the way Americans eat.

  74. 74.

    Corner Stone

    @MikeJ:

    Hasn’t the gulf tragedy taught us that experts are teh suxx0r and only the wisdom of the crowd of people who don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about can save us?

    I’m not sure why people who live on the Gulf don’t just do some shopping around in the free market for replacement livelihoods and insurance coverage for same.

  78. 78.

    demo woman

    @Cat Lady: Wow! Google has About 13,800 results (0.33 seconds) for her name. Even if several thousand entries are for other bertozzi’s that’s pretty impressive.

  80. 80.

    Jade Jordan

    Hmmmm multiple sandwiches and soup. You must want to be Tunches weight loss buddy!

  81. 81.

    Mike E

    @Violet:
    But you gotta admire their drive to “kick it up a notch”. I like to say, “it’s the best thing since toasted sliced bread” when encountering any new delectables. Hummus with well-toasted pita, yum.

  83. 83.

    Violet

    @Mike E:
    Ha. Only in traditional British cuisine would putting something on toast be considered “kicking it up a notch.”

  88. 88.

    Mike E

    Just crushed a couple of burgers (sliders, really) on mayo-ed buns, now washing it down with an ice cold PBR.

  92. 92.

    Comrade Tank Hueco

    @Chuck Butcher:

    That was another thing I missed about Oregon when I moved to Texas. But they have Tillamook, Kettle Chips, and Full Sail at the local H-E-B. Thank goodness.

  94. 94.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Violet: AKA “on a raft” in other words two poached eggs on toast are “Adam and Eve on a raft” (one egg of course is Adam on a raft), My breakfast always includes toast, ie beans on toast, boiled eggs on toast, scrambled eggs on toast, poached eggs on toast. THe old Royal Navy description of the food was classic, BITS = beans in tomato sauce, SITS =spaghetti in tomato sauce, and the classic TITS = tomatoes in tomato sauce.

  97. 97.

    demo woman

    @Cat Lady: holy “shit”.. Normally I don’t pay attention to that number and I stand by my comment that 13000 for a scientist is pretty impressive.

  99. 99.

    Anne Laurie

    @Cat Lady:

    My cousin, a MacArthur grant genius just won another BIG award. She’s wicked smaht. She’s finding a cure for cancer, and she’s still very young. Just watch.

    VERY cool! Congratulations to your cousin, and may she live a long & continuously productive life!

  100. 100.

    Bill H

    Bacon is good in a grilled cheese, but my wife puts sliced pickles in hers, which is just ridiculous. You should see what she does to eggs; good God. She uses high heat and scrambles them until they are browned. The smell is utterly horrifying.

  101. 101.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Elisabeth: The pictures I linked to made me want to vomit. Why are these not being seen? Why is Morning Joe not showing these pictures, every damn morning? Why are BP getting to censor these pictures?

  104. 104.

    Elisabeth

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    My comments on the HuffPo pictures from elsewhere. I am completely disgusted. These pictures should be shown on every news program right along with those of the oil gushing out of the well.

    Sarah fuckin’ Palin and the rest of the fuckin’ “drill, baby, drill” assholes need to take a close look at the front page of Huffington Post and then come kiss my ass. “Extreme greenies” because we care more about God’s creatures then corporate profits?! Fuck all of them! I’d like every one of them to see those pictures day after day, hour after hour, and explain how they think it is conceivably honorable to even risk letting something like that happen again. Especially after her own fucking state went through it. I hate that woman and her ilk with every fiber of my being. Run in 2012, Sarah, I beg you. I’ll go broke working to defeat you and anyone else who holds that it is remotely okay to take such chances with the Earth your God created.

    By the way, the president needs to take a close look, too, and seriously rethink that March announcement on lifting the moritorium. And every fucking member of Congress needs to take a look, too.
    Yes, those pictures disturbed me and angered me and saddened me. I won’t forget them any time soon.
    …
    (And, a lecture on the necessary evil of some offshore drilling will not be appreciated at the moment.)

    ETA: I’m having issues with the second blockquote. Oh well.

  105. 105.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Violet #70:

    *right behind the Chocolate Show in NYC*

    I can’t help noticing there was no link :-(

  107. 107.

    Texas Dem

    Saw that Mr. Science guy on Olberman tonight pouring cold water on the “Nuke the Oil Spill” idea that’s been gaining steam. Bummer. Now what are we going to do? I kind of liked the idea of seeing radioactive tar balls washing ashore on Pensacola. Hell, it’s not like I own any property there.

  108. 108.

    Corner Stone

    Rachel has a real head of steam on tonight.
    Too bad she has a couple fucking lackeys on right after to talk about it with.

  109. 109.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Bill H: The absolute best recipe for scrambled eggs. Put three eggs (or whatever amount you want) in a plastic container. Scramble them up. Add one tea spoon of butter and one tea spoon of milk per egg. Scramble them up. Microwave for one minute. Scramble with a fork. Microwave for another minute. Let rest in the microwave for one minute. Serve. The most delightful creamy scrambled eggs ever. Not like the “worried omlette” of most American scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs are an artform, they should not look like something that someone threw on a griddle and forgot.

  111. 111.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Elisabeth:

    I cried. And I am still crying. I cannot believe that these photos are not being published world wide. Animals are dying down there, they are being trapped in the gunk, they are suffering and dying and no one is doing a fucking thing to stop it. I want to know that something is being done. What the fuck is the government doing about this? I want these birds sunk in a gallon of Dawn detergent yesterday. DO SOMETHING for fucks sake.

  113. 113.

    Michael

    Nikki is a naughty girl.

    http://www.fitsnews.com/2010/06/03/second-claim-leveled-at-haley/#comments

    Nine days after our founding editor acknowledged having an “inappropriate physical relationship” with S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley in the Spring of 2007, a second man has come forward claiming to have had improper relations with the Republican gubernatorial front-runner.
    …
    Larry C. Marchant, Jr. – a powerful Columbia lobbyist and the top campaign advisor to S.C. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer – said he had a “one night stand” with Haley in June 2008 at a parental choice convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. Marchant was fired by Bauer’s campaign Wednesday shortly before coming forward with his revelation.

    If only she stayed at home with her magazine, like the Prince song…..

    Anyway, there will be an assembly after study hall, where the guidance team will talk about the hurtfulness of this sort of gossip.

  114. 114.

    IndyLib

    Late to the cooking party tonight – just got done with grilled salmon marinated in maple syrup, soy sauce and crushed garlic. Pretty yummy, but I think I’ll add a bit of brown sugar next time to help boost the maple and offset the salt in the soy.

    I make my grilled cheese with any kind of high-end local Wisconsin sharp cheddar I can find, tomatoes and grilled onions.

  115. 115.

    Cat Lady

    @Anne Laurie:

    She was a cute smart funny little girl who gave you a gaze that made you realize that all the lights were on and everyone was home.

  116. 116.

    eemom

    re: toast

    Is anyone else old enough to remember Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces?

  118. 118.

    Jenn

    @Elisabeth:

    It is heartbreaking.
    _
    Maybe we need to get Tim F’s dial-your-congressperson campaign going again. I mentioned upthread that Reid is pushing the relevant Senate committees to work on energy legislation that will also address the failures that helped bring about this oil spill, along with response, and he wants the committees’ legislation by July 4. If we all yell (figuratively) at our Senators (and Representatives) about what we want to see in that legislation, and put some supportive muscle up front, maybe we can help get something decent through Congress. Reid’s evidently calculating that with this spill, Republicans are going to have a harder time voting against a bill addressing it. I’ll never bet against a Republican being a douche, but it’s also coming up against an election, so you never know. I think we’re all pissed off beyond measure here — this could be an opportunity to DO something useful with that anger.

  120. 120.

    demo woman

    @Texas Dem: How long before Hannity and Beck spread the message that Obama won’t stop the leak with a nuke because he’s weak.

  121. 121.

    burnspbesq

    Grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup? You’re only halfway to six-year-old kid food Nirvana. Where’s the chocolate milk and Oreos?

    Gimme fish sticks and Tater Tots over grilled cheese and tomato soup, every time.

  122. 122.

    Corner Stone

    @IndyLib:

    just got done with grilled salmon marinated

    I had a very vivid dream the other night with salmon in it. I was trying to prepare the salmon and it kept breaking into chunks. And the chunks were too small to grill.
    I…it was..awful

  123. 123.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Morbo:

    So basically my recipe, except creme fresh as opposed to cream or milk. Ispent three years in Hong Kong trying to teach the Chinese chefs how to make scrambled eggs. By the time I left I had done it.

  124. 124.

    Jenn

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I have a bunch of friends in the natural resource agencies (Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service) who have been sent down to the Gulf & are rescuing birds; they were sent down almost a month ago, if I remember correctly. I just hope the photographers bundled up those mired birds after they took those photos, and took them to the rehabbers.

  125. 125.

    gbear

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    this 50 year old ex-pat still thinks that heinz beans on toast is the best meal ever.

    My mom used to make baked bean, bacon and cheese sandwiches and heat them under a broiler until the cheese was just ready to bubble up. I loved those. Haven’t had one for ages.

  127. 127.

    fubardaddy

    John

    Now that is some true comfort food. I suddenly have a craving for tomato soup and a grilled cheese (& tomato) sandwich.

    Tomorrow – homemade spaghetti with meatballs, and garlic-herb sourdough bread. Vampires beware – I am talking some heavy duty garlic.

  128. 128.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @IndyLib:

    My favorite salmon creation. A nice filet of salmon, placed upon a piece of tin foil, chop fresh lemon balm and parsley over it, drizzile with olive oil and lemon juice, sprinkle with sea salt. wrap salmon into a packet and either cook in the oven or on a grill. Perfect.

  130. 130.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Jenn:

    I so hope you are right. I kept thinking when I was looking at those photos, “instead of taking photos why are you not pulling those birds out of the oil” I know there are people down there doing this stuff, I just need to know that these birds were saved, I want those stories, I need those stories, I want to know they were saved.

  133. 133.

    Alice Blue

    I looked at those photos on Huffington Post and I’m just sitting here crying. If those birds were too far gone to save, I hope they were mercifully killed rather than left to suffer a lingering death.

  134. 134.

    burnspbesq

    Coach Wooden is reportedly in UCLA Medical Center in “grave” condition.

  135. 135.

    Corner Stone

    Just bought tickets to the Astros v Cubs game this Sat June 5th! Crawford box for the win!
    Most likely Roy Oswalt’s last start as an Astro, PLUS it’s Nolan Ryan bobblehead night.
    It’s gonna rock beeschays!

  137. 137.

    Jenn

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I know. I may be overestimating human behavior, but it’s hard for me to believe that a photographer moved to take those photos wouldn’t be calling in those birds to a rehab spot, even if they didn’t feel capable of rescuing them themselves.

  138. 138.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @Cat Lady: Hey! I’ve met her! Now we’re at only two degrees of separation, instead of one like before.

    Oh, wait. No MacArthur for me, I guess.

  139. 139.

    stuckinred

    @burnspbesq: Oh, you are right. “Hip hop” is only a dog whistle for wingnuts. Don’t try to snow the snowman. And I’ve got your yutz hangin right here punk.

  140. 140.

    andybud

    “For the best grilled cheese of all time:

    Get a thick slice of ham (or turkey, or leftover chicken) and roughly chop it.”

    Errr… doesn’t it stop being a “grilled cheese” at the very first step?

    Just sayin’. Not that it doesn’t sound tasty. :-)

  141. 141.

    Corner Stone

    I have a confession. I think I’ve let everyone here down.
    I did my level damndest to enjoy Burn Notice…but I just can’t.
    I just fucking can’t!

    I’m sorry, but it’s just godawful.

  142. 142.

    Anne Laurie

    @Corner Stone:

    I think I’ve let everyone here down.
    I did my level damndest to enjoy Burn Notice…but I just can’t.
    I just fucking can’t!
    __
    I’m sorry, but it’s just godawful.

    Pfft. It’s a nice, fun little bonbon, 40 minutes’ entertainment, and one of the few shows the Spousal Unit and I can enjoy together (because he’s a lot more sensitive to “depressing” stories than I am).

    LEVERAGE, on the other hand, is a Great Thing. We got our pre-ordered second season DVDs from Amazon the other day, and are doing our best to watch just one (well, maybe two) episodes per evening, to spread out the pleasure.

  143. 143.

    Michael

    @Corner Stone:

    I have a confession. I think I’ve let everyone here down.
    I did my level damndest to enjoy Burn Notice…but I just can’t.
    I just fucking can’t!
    …
    I’m sorry, but it’s just godawful.

    It sucked ass tonight, and I’ve been a fan since day 1. It looked like a bad midsummer replacement.

  145. 145.

    OriGuy

    In college, I used to make grilled cheese with an Amish Swiss, which had tiny holes. I haven’t seen it outside of Illinois.
    Safeway has horseradish cheddar, which is pretty good. It makes good mac ‘n’ cheese, too.

  146. 146.

    Michael

    Dexter Season 5 is set for September. That keeps life worth living. Anybody know if Hall’s recent illness has affected that?

  147. 147.

    South of I-10

    @Jenn: If it makes y’all feel a tiny bit better, LDWF rescued 15 pelicans and some gulls from the area these pictures were shot in today. I cried when I saw them, no creature should have to suffer like that.

  149. 149.

    Ailuridae

    I never got into Burn Notice despite really wanting to do so.

    My new shamelessly bad show I love is Justified. I can’t say it is any good but wow is it entertaining.

  150. 150.

    And Another Thing...

    @Anne Laurie: Hands down – the Cuisinart Mini Pro, abt $40. It’s perfect for your described needs, good price, lasts forever and is a great present.

  151. 151.

    Corner Stone

    @Anne Laurie: I was watching reruns on USA tonight and Weston blew up the bridge THEN ran out of the brush onto the street so he could outrun cop cars. On foot. Down a winding concrete road. Away from a 400BHP automobile.
    Now, I’m not one for realism in my USA series, I used to love every dang episode of Silk Stalkings (THAT was entertainment my friends!), but this had so much weaksauce in it I just couldn’t gag it all down.
    It was so bad it was almost like a good epi of Leverage.
    Oh, wait…

  153. 153.

    Ailuridae

    @eemom:

    I know Nate a bit between us sharing a neighborhood for a while, an alma mater and, at one time, a profession. From everything I understand (from others close to him not from him) he basically looked at the near complete autonomy Ezra et al have had at the post and the Freakonomics assholes have had at the Times and decided that there was no way he could lose. Not saying I agree, just explaining it.

  154. 154.

    Brian J

    @eemom:

    I called this a couple of months back as it was being debated how they were going to try to move forward despite problems with print editions. It makes perfect sense. He’s great and valuable to their readers, being wonky but also accessible, and instead of spending millions to operate a foreign bureau, they will pay him a fraction of that but still get just as much content.

    I fully expect the paper to snap up at least one finance blogger in the next six to nine months. Mark my words.

  155. 155.

    Corner Stone

    BTW – has there ever been a more badass intro then George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone”?

    Discuss.

  156. 156.

    Brian J

    @eemom:

    Who is that guy? I’m pretty up on blogger personalities, even if I don’t read them regularly, and his name sounds vaguely familiar, but it’s still not clear.

  157. 157.

    Jenn

    @South of I-10:

    Thanks for the news! I found it hard to believe that someone who cared enough to show the terrible straits of those poor birds to a national (and international) audience would then just leave — and actually, it’s likely that the photographer was there with the folks collecting the birds for rehab.

    @eemom:

    I’m not quite sure I understand Giordano’s despair. It sounds as though Nate’s retaining his autonomy, & that it’s going to be a 3 year license deal.

  161. 161.

    Corner Stone

    @South of I-10: I love me some Jimi, and that is no BS. But I gotta tell ya, if I ever kick in the door to a pool hall where you are sitting in a back corner booth, and walk in with my shades on at 2:00am…I want Bad to the Bone playing as my theme song.

  163. 163.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack: I really like Olyphant. He understates everything as this character, and I get that.
    I keep dipping in and out of this series. One day I expect to Netflix a couple whole seasons worth and enjoy them.

  164. 164.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Anne Laurie: I second the Cuisinart suggestion. I have their full size model, I use it every week, works great, the Mini-Prep version sells for $30 on Amazon.

  167. 167.

    YellowJournalism

    John had the same thing as my son for dinner! Did yours have Elmo printed on it, too?

  168. 168.

    Brian J

    @Jenn:

    I’m not sure of his claims against The Times. It’s far from perfect, as Brad DeLong’s multiple blog posts on the awful article on the Dartmouth Atlas health care stuff today show, but it aims pretty high. I also suspect that its failures are more evident only because so many people are paying attention. If it were some lesser paper–not a small town one, but something with a circulation of, say, 100,000 and/or not one read first by the elites in the country–a lot fewer people would notice when it screwed up.

    I’m pretty pumped about this because he’s got a good mastery of numbers but can also translate them into a good narrative of what’s going on. Perhaps we’ll see better political articles as a result of this. In fact, I’d be shocked if that wasn’t the case.

  170. 170.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    And pretty good acting all around and not (too) over-the-top Southern accents.

    I have to admit that there is a group of shows that I picked up after getting the big-ass TV in January that probably have little going for them other than hypnotizing me with the bright colors, the pretty people and the big pictures: Burn Notice, White Collar, Psych, Human Target, maybe even (from the “redeeming value?” perspective) Justified, Castle and Chuck. Everything looks good in HD. (I have mentioned before that I have become a big fan of the Humidity Channel.)

    Psych is probably my guiltiest pleasure. That has nothing going for it besides the chemistry between the stars and occasional bits of side shtick. Though I still chuckle about Sean saying he was putting something on his “to don’t” list.

    Meanwhile, why do Modern Family and The Mentalist get no love? The first is really, really funny, and the second tightened up quite a bit this season after a slow first season.

    And I really don’t get how you can hate Burn Notice if you liked Silk Stalkings. Talk about fickle. Oh, Rob and Mitzi, where are you know?

  173. 173.

    thomas Levenson

    @abo gato: Waaay late to the party (editing the video of my fourth grader’s rube goldberg machine adventures till the wee hours and all that). But for curry recipes I recommend you look to Madhur Jaffrey’s cook books. I’ve been using an old one of hers forever, and it is reliable, but lately I’ve been having fun with her From Kebabs to Curries which is a tour through the whole India + Indian diasporic food tradition. Great stuff.

    Lately, I’ve been playing with a recipe she has there for Durban (South Africa) style whole chicken. It’s great, and takes a lot of variation — I don’t skin the chickens as she says to, and just two nights ago my wife and I collaborated on a variation in which we took a teeny chicken — 2 pounds — butterflied it, sliced some grooves into the breast meat, and slathered it over and under the skin with the ginger-garlic-lemon-spice paste that Jaffrey has you grind up in the blender. We then fried it up in a deep pan for a while, added about a cup of plain yoghurt and some diced canned tomatoes to the pan, and finished it off with about fifteen minutes of slow simmering.

    Prep time: about twenty minutes. Cooking time: half an hour to forty minutes. Outcome: not good for my waist line.

    Go take a look at Jaffrey’s stuff. She’s not overly complicated, and it’s pretty easy to simply and modify what she has to suit time and taste. Basically, it’s all stews: fry up some vegetables, add some flavorings, brown the meat, add liquid and forget about it for an hour or so.

  174. 174.

    eemom

    @Ailuridae:

    yeah, Mr. Giordano. He sees right through their self-promoting bullshit as they purport to speak on behalf of all “progressives”.

    Nate, OTOH, was always very polite and gentlemanly in refuting Hamsher’s nonstop bullshit jihad against HCR. As was Ezra.

  175. 175.

    Violet

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Chocolate Show. I think it’s been taken into this larger entity where they have these shows all over the world. Or, it inspired the other shows. I don’t know which. I first learned about it ten years ago or so, when the website made it sound fabulous and they had pretty reasonable hotel deals with chocolate gift baskets and so forth. No idea how it works now, although I’m still eager to find out!

    @Mike E:
    Nooooo! You can’t make me eat my scrambled eggs on toast! I won’t do it! Seriously, I just don’t like them that way. I want eggs on this side of the plate and toast, with butter and jam, on that side of the plate. None of this Adam and Steve on a raft nonsense.

  177. 177.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack:

    And I really don’t get how you can hate Burn Notice if you liked Silk Stalkings.

    I don’t hate Burn Notice, I just understand it sucks balls. Silk Stalkings was like 15 years ago. That was back when we were all a little innocent, a little ready to believe, and a little freaking horny for any actress in a bikini to lie to us.
    It was a great forerunner for many of the current Miami/beach/Cali genres.
    I just don’t dig the constant voiceover that is the show’s gimmick. And I mean really, when you rely on Fi to shoot some dude with a rubber bullet, then have Weston snap his fingers as explosives blow and lower a warehouse door?
    That’s a little past the sauce for the goose or gander.
    IMO

  178. 178.

    kdaug

    Vaguely OT, but what has anyone else gleaned re: safe deepwater drilling? Don’t know crap about it myself, but want to get a feel for what y’all have heard.

    I now know the Norwegians require an acoustic shutoff switch in case the hydraulics on the BOP fail. Other than that, the only thing I’ve heard that we should do (costly as hell, but at this point WTF) is to drill a relief well simultaneously with each new well.

    The oil industry hates this, as it obviously doubles their drilling costs, but at least if the first one blows the second pressure-relief well is already there.

    Anyone heard any other viable “safer ways” to deal with this issue? We’re going to need oil for a while still – how can we work this?

  179. 179.

    kdaug

    I’ll take a half-hour of zero replies to this as a definitive “NO”.

    We’re truly fucked on this, aren’t we?

  180. 180.

    Ailuridae

    @kdaug:

    Sorry was getting my late evening six pack. There are ways to do off-shore more safely (and far more safely than than BP did) but it is never safe. Obviously nationalizing helps mitigate a nation’s concerns against private business but it doesn’t change the fact that off-shore drilling is inherently unsafe as there is no way to stop a blow out (and those happen) besides a relief drill.

  184. 184.

    Ed Drone

    @Zam:

    Funny thing. A guy I work with will not stop talking about grilled cheese and tomato soup, almost every day mentions it about 3 times. He says it’s the most American meal of all time, though he isn’t from America to begin with so I don’t think he knows shit.

    That reminds me of an old Danny Thomas story:

    A new immigrant is working with some countrymen on an American building site, and asks his pal, “What can I order to eat at the diner over there? How do you say it?”

    Try this, “Eppil pie und cawfee.”

    “Eppil pie und cawfee. Eppil pie und cawfee. I’ll try that.”

    He goes to the diner, says, “Eppil pie und cawfee,” and gets his apple pie and coffee, likes it, and orders it every day for two weeks. But now he wants some variety, so he asks his buddy, “Give me something else to order.”

    “Hemm sendvich.”

    He tries saying that a few times, then goes to the diner on his lunch hour.

    “Hemm sendvich!”

    “White, wheat or rye? What kind of bread? White, wheat or rye?”

    [sigh] “Eppil pie und cawfee.”

    Ed

  185. 185.

    Howlin Wolfe

    Damn! Late to the partay AGAIN!! Any GCS’s and COTsoup left? I smell some!!

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