Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I really should read my own blog.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

Fight them, without becoming them!

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

So very ready.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

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

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

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

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Reader Interactions

41Comments

  4. 4.

    Violet

    Awesome alt txt for the picture. They look great. Hope you guys have a great party. Your dad is lucky to have people who love him enough to go to this much trouble. Happy Birthday, Papa Cole!

  11. 11.

    gogol's wife

    I thought the party was Friday. I guess it’s just the preparations have been going on since then. I wonder how the dawgs are standing the aroma.

  14. 14.

    Martin

    5 hours is how long I cook mine for as well – 250. If you have a rotisserie option, next time stick a couple of chickens on there and give them a run along with the ribs. They cook best at the same temp, but don’t take as long.

    Wapping the ribs in foil for the last hour helps a fair bit as they’ll retain that moisture and get them really tender.

  15. 15.

    John Weiss

    Ribs on the charcoal side: good on you. There’s hardly anything better than charcoal/wood grilled ribs!

  16. 16.

    Martin

    Fancy grill buddy.

    Not quite as fancy as it would appear. It’s a propane/charcoal combo. He’s using the charcoal side. It’s really not much more expensive than a standard propane grill. $350-$400 or so.

  20. 20.

    Dee Loralei

    Ribs look nummy. I made a chocolate cherry tart from a recipe I got off the Guardian, had to translate the metric though. hope my math was good.

    Happy Birthday Pappa Cole!

  21. 21.

    Martin

    John, how the hell did you manage all this without hurting yourself?

    Didn’t hurt himself, or just hasn’t admitted it to us yet? Hopefully he’s not grilling naked…

  22. 22.

    Hal

    Can any rib aficionados settle a dispute between my Sister and I? I say you put ribs bone side down, and do not flip, but she insists they must flip in order to cook through. Of course, she also things chicken isn’t done until it’s the consistency of tire rubber, but…

  23. 23.

    daniel thomas macinnes

    Oh, hell ya! Have I mentioned lately that you’re my hero? This is literally the only political blog that’s been keeping me sane lately (liberals are always in Black Sabbath doom-n-gloom mode), so I appreciate that. Add in some massive ribs? Fantastic!

    Now I’m tempted to get some burgers or brats at the grocery store…but that would involve going outside into that hot, soupy weather. This is the perfect weather to hassle any global warming deniers you might know.

  24. 24.

    moonbat

    While those ribs are resting, make sure they are out of Rosie’s jumping radius. I had a Scottie one time jump four feet off the ground to snatch a rib out of someone’s hand.

  25. 25.

    Martin

    Can any rib aficionados settle a dispute between my Sister and I? I say you put ribs bone side down, and do not flip, but she insists they must flip in order to cook through.

    No need to flip if you cook them slow. Too many people cook them with direct heat – like you’re grilling a steak – and in that case you do need to flip, but they’ll be tough and pretty terrible. 5 hours or so at 250 – indirect heat – so there’s just as much heat on top as the bottom. And bone side down protects the meat on top from the heat coming up from the bottom, so not flipping is sort of the point of the cooking method.

  27. 27.

    MGLoraine

    @Hal

    The thing is, with pork or chicken you have to cook it until it is “done” (i.e., no more blood comes out when stuck with a fork). If you have an appliance which can achieve that result without flipping, then you don’t have to flip ’em. On the other hand, there’s a certain flavor which comes from the meat-side of the rack contacting the hot metal which would be absent. Do you want ’em “char-broiled” or (essentially) baked? Therein lies the dilemma.

  28. 28.

    aimai

    Last time I cooked a big party for my parents my mother invited fifty people, I cooked a cocktail party style 30 appetizers per person, and then found out that my mother had called everyone and apologized in advance for the probable scarcity of food and warned them all to eat first. As people walked in to the party they all exclaimed over the food (which was incredible, if I do say so myself) and said “but we came here straight from dinner!”

    I could have killed her.

    aimai

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    @ aimai

    Wow. Just wow.
    Thanks for the vote of confidence, mom.
    I would have been livid. I’m sure you handled it better than I would have.

  33. 33.

    Trollenschlongen

    I’ve never understood why dead, cooked things need to “rest.” They already look pretty relaxed to me.

  35. 35.

    RSA

    Looks amazing. I cooked pork ribs for the first time a few days ago, and I made the mistake of using a marinade that included sugar. I like a charcoal coating on the meat, but not everyone does… Next time, I’ll use a dry rub.

  36. 36.

    4jkb4ia

    Final Alert

    Pirates 7, Astros 4

    John’s whole family has to be beside themselves. This is so completely awesome for baseball. Barring a curse, no one has to stay in the cellar forever.

    Hopefully he’s not grilling naked

    In an honest, genuine pennant race, in which the Cardinals are going to play meaningful, suspenseful games this weekend, I am just going to ignore that. No effort at all.

  37. 37.

    4jkb4ia

    From Pirkei Avot–deserved its own comment:

    …..
    A twenty-year-old begins pursuit [of a livelihood], a thirty-year-old attains full strength; a forty-year-old attains understanding; a fifty-year-old can offer counsel; a sixty-year-old attains seniority(“age”); a seventy-year-old attains a ripe old age(“gray hair”); an eighty-year-old shows strength(“gevurah”, attribute of judgment); a ninety-year-old becomes stooped over; a hundred-year-old is as if he were dead, passed away and ceased from the world.
    John’s Dad has some way to go before he is 80, which would be before his second Bar Mitzvah–second adulthood.

  38. 38.

    Martin

    I’ve never understood why dead, cooked things need to “rest.”

    The reason is that hot, dead things cannot hold as much water as cold, dead things. By ‘resting’ you allow the meat to cool down, which allows the muscle fibers to better hold onto the juice inside the meat. That way, when you cut it, the juice stays inside the meat instead of pouring all over your cutting board. Why work so hard to make a juicy roast just to lose all the juice when you carve it?

  40. 40.

    4jkb4ia

    OK, further proof that I am a complete idiot. Actually 7-5 and the Brewers are in first by half a game.

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