Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Everybody saw this coming.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

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Reader Interactions

189Comments

  1. 1.

    Libby

    The rack looks great. The BLTs sound delicious. Very jealous. And since I’ve been offline all day and missed the thread, I vote for the pink shoe FB page — just because…

  2. 2.

    General Stuck

    Baker’s rack assembled and now functional:

    Well, turn it on, let’s see if it works.

  3. 3.

    Captain Haddock

    Baker’s rack? Local bacon? Home grown tomatoes? Sorry, but I am not buying that you were once a Republican.

  5. 5.

    opie jeanne

    Cool, to all of it.

    And I like the linoleum; same stuff we had in our family room in the 1950s.

  7. 7.

    JGabriel

    John Cole, you have nice pots & pans, and a nice food processor, and recipe file. And rolling pin. And butcher block.

    You have a nice rack, dude.

    .

  10. 10.

    phastphil

    “Only two things in the world are free, true love and homegrown tomatoes”. – Guy Clark

  11. 11.

    opie jeanne

    @kindness: I love the few pieces of All Clad that I own. Most of the larger pieces are too heavy for me, so I have stuck to things I can wield with authority, foodwise.

  12. 12.

    Abby

    Not so pretty or functional-it’s shelves, with wasted space-sorry. I went thru the same thing.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    This makes me wish I had an empty wall. Then I would have a place to put one of these.

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    How long ’til Tunch leaps, climbs, gets Rosie to help him up there to knock that shit off, onto the floor at 2:00 a.m.?

  20. 20.

    General Stuck

    As for all the freakout ballyhoo on Obama fail this or that. Learn and listen, Plouffe wasn’t kidding when he stated the fiscal house was now in order, (winger spending cuts) , and now we turn to job creation.

    There will be no chance of passing any bill any time soon out of the House, but you heard it here first. The Obama administration will be unveiling a comprehensive stimulus type bill fairly soon, daring the wingers to block it. They will of course, and both sides can get their campaign demogogue on, and that is about all anyone can do right now. But in 6 months we will be enthralled in an epic war of world views with the wingers via the supercom, and that will be the sum of our experience in politics till the election.

    And Of course this blog and all the other left wing blogs will be helping the wingnuts with the “weak” Obama meme, and general all around freakazoid out, we’re all gonna die, and writing brilliant (cough) and increasingly tough pol warrior commentary, if only Obama would do this or that, we could win.

    With the fact this skinny black prez got elected in the first place, and maintains a 40 plus approval in a very bad period, and kinda knows a bit more about this shit than big brane bloggers and their minions. But these are the things what make the stomach turn on the internet.

    Cheers

  21. 21.

    Roger Moore

    @kindness:

    Looks like someone has some All Clad there…

    Does it? I thought All Clad specialized in stainless steel, and the handles on those lids don’t look like All-Clad. That looks more like Calphalon hard anodized aluminum.

  22. 22.

    JPL

    @Roger Moore: Yeah, I’m thinking Calphalon but All-Clad does have a line with anodized aluminum over the stainless which is stupid imo…
    What I want to know is what his counter tops are made of..
    For some folks that is important…

  24. 24.

    dmsilev

    Baker’s rack assembled and now functional:

    No, no, no. Have you no respect for the classics? Here, let me fix that:

    Now, witness the firepower of this _fully armed and operational_ baker’s rack!

  25. 25.

    trollhattan

    @opie jeanne:

    I’m thinking he had to lock his knife collection up to keep Tunch out, but Tunch figured out how to operate the little twirly combination things, so then it had to go up near the ceiling, where no Tunch has yet been. Thus, baker’s rack.

  28. 28.

    shortstop

    Looking good. You’ll use those hooks more than you’d ever predict. Sometimes I wish I had a 20×20′ wall just covered with hooks of all sizes.

    And sometimes I really miss BLTs. Gave up the old meat two years ago and don’t miss it at all except for BLTs in the summer when tomatoes are glorious. Well, also pulled-pork sandwiches when I’m in regions that know how to do ’em.

  29. 29.

    shortstop

    John’s stuff is Calphalon, I think.

    @opie jeanne: I adore my couple of All-Clad pieces. And they double as pantywaist librul weapons against home intruders. I kid. But they prolly could.

  30. 30.

    Roger Moore

    @JPL:
    It should show you what a geek I am that I actually looked at the All-Clad and Calphalon web sites before making that post. All-Clad does make pots with a hard anodized aluminum exterior, but they have the same style of stainless lid with a flat handle as their stainless surfaced pots. I’m actually not sure about the Calphalon call, since most of Calphalon’s pans apparently come with glass lids, which is annoying since it limits their safe oven temperature. Those look like they may be some other brand like Anolon.

  31. 31.

    honus

    You need to find a friend that works in the All Clad factory. It’s right up in Canonsburg, and they have a great yard sale on seconds twice a year.

  33. 33.

    shortstop

    @Roger Moore:

    I’m actually not sure about the Calphalon call, since most of Calphalon’s pans apparently come with glass lids

    Do the older ones, though?

    My god, they’ve been right about us all along. We are elitist dorks.

  34. 34.

    Hal

    I always feel cheated by BLTs. Like there should be something else there. Once the bacon is gone, your like hmmmm, a lettuce and tomato sandwich. BLTs are one item, along with Spaghetti, I refuse to order in restaurants. Too much of a rip off versus what you can spend to make at home.

  35. 35.

    John O

    The BLT is the greatest of all summer sandwiches, provided you have good ‘maters.

    The only question, really, is Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise. I can do both with a smile.

  36. 36.

    cathyx

    @jeffreyw: You crack me up with your food porn pictures. Did you say homemade chorizo? I like to make scrambled eggs and mix that in when I cook it.

    One minor problem with our cooler weather is our tomatoes don’t come on until late summer. But when they do, I love an open faced tomato-mayonnaise sandwich.

  37. 37.

    John O

    @Hal:

    This is why the ratio of ingredients is key in BLT’s, nay!, every sandwich. There must be no bites without a good chunk of (preferably applewood smoked) bacon.

  38. 38.

    Gex

    @opie jeanne: Silverware maybe?

    Tonight I’m learning how to program for iOS (just sent an app to my iPhone that uses location services!) then going to see my best girl in her Fringe Festival play – SCOTUS!

    Gonna be a good night. Hope the republic is still chugging along when I get back.

    ETA: I am ideologically opposed to tomatoes in a sandwich. Not because I don’t like them. It’s because they mess with the structural integrity of a sandwich. They are virtually frictionless and cause a sandwich to slip and slide in the worst ways. So I just substitute cheese for the Ts in BLTs.

  40. 40.

    Southern Beale

    Scott Walker booed at opening ceremonies of WI State Fair. An Alberta Darling volunteer (she’s a Republican facing recall) had this to say:

    The booing and “shame” chants upset him, which prevented Walker from being heard. Schmuki said it was a violation of freedom of speech. “This is wrong,” he said. “Today it was fascism at work. They refused to let him get a word in edgewise.”

    Oh shut the fuck up. Every little thing you assholes don’t like isn’t fascism. Grow the fuck up you big baby.

  41. 41.

    shortstop

    @John O: Miracle Whip is teabagger, Palin fan food.

    There, that oughta keep us going for another couple hundred comments.

  42. 42.

    scav

    @shortstop: and being able to distinguish a ’36 from a ’35 Ford by the shape of its grill and manage a long discussion on it is anti-dork. I’ve seen similar conversations break out about tractors from the 40s (Farmall v. Deere).

  45. 45.

    Hal

    @Southern Beale:

    Yep. One of the staples of fascism is being able to boo your leader, and not get gunned down. WI is just like Iran.

    PS: so that’s the reply button.

  46. 46.

    Violet

    @trollhattan:

    near the ceiling, where no Tunch has yet been.

    Ha ha ha ha! As if there’s a square inch of the house that Tunch hasn’t inspected. It’s his house, after all.

  47. 47.

    shortstop

    @John O: I like to add sliced onions, making them BLOTs (except now I just do LOTs). For this minor departure from orthodoxy I have been called such names you wouldn’t believe.

    Yes, I heard that in Mike Myers’ Linda Richman voice, too.

  48. 48.

    John Cole

    I have calphalon. Bought the anodized set for dirt cheap online.

    All-clad is just too damned expensive for me. Maybe if I hit the lottery.

  49. 49.

    Martin

    @scav:

    I’ve seen similar conversations break out about tractors from the 40s

    Been hanging out with BOB again?

  51. 51.

    JPL

    @Roger Moore: haha..I’m a cook ware snob. I don’t believe in buying one brand and have all-clad, cuisinart, le creuset and calphalon, and cast iron. Now my cuisinart, le creuset and cast iron is over thirty years old so there is that.

  52. 52.

    John O

    @shortstop:

    Even though I have a feeling I would love me some onions on my BLT, that is just sick and wrong so I’m not doing it and you are some kind of sicko.

  54. 54.

    Maude

    If that’s a briefcase, perhaps it’s up there because Rosie chews.
    @scav:
    I used to go to small tractor pulls. They were a lot of fun. There were pick ups from the 40’s there, still being used.

  55. 55.

    Gex

    @scav: Basically everyone nerds out about something. For a lot of folks, it’s sports. It’s just that some kinds of nerdiness is the stuff of Real Americans ™ and some of it is liberal elitist. It’s pretty arbitrary.

  57. 57.

    shortstop

    @scav: Snappy.

    Everything I know about ’36 Ford trucks, which is almost nothing, came from getting stuck behind one going 20 on the Cumberland Plateau for hours. It was a nice day and we had no deadline to make Chattanooga, so we just grooved on the local vehicular sights.

    @John O: Come on, just a little slice. No one will know. Come on. You know you want to.

  58. 58.

    Violet

    @John O:

    preferably applewood smoked) bacon.

    I used to think applewood smoked bacon was the best. And then I had cherry wood smoked bacon. It was a revelation.

  59. 59.

    scav

    @Maude: I watched my father bust through language barriers to discuss small vineyard tractors from the ’30s in France. I love the sound of the really old ones but, to my eternal shame, they do all kinda exist in one multi-colored categorical lump for me. I’ve not been entirely disowned by my father but it’s on a razor’s edge.

  60. 60.

    JPL

    also, too if you are buying a non-stick fry pan, do not waste your money on all-clad. Non-stick wears off so the better choice would be t-fal and toss it after awhile. Non-stick is nice for eggs, not so nice for anything else…imo..
    Why would you buy non-stick for anything else besides frying an egg?

  61. 61.

    trollhattan

    Everything I know about tractors I learned at Bray.

    http://www.brayvineyards.com/index.cfm?method=storeproducts.showDrilldown&productid=83cbad0d-d4f6-506f-dfce-ccd62e0600c7&ProductCategoryID=ccaa4c04-1b78-7bfe-4c8e-d7d639318b9f&WineryID=67a02d7f-de60-9f43-35e0-7580743e024d&WineTypeID=&ProductType=&wineVarietalID=&wineRegionID=&vintage=&lowprice=&highPrice=&WineBrandID=&WineAppellationID=&lowletter=&highletter=&OrderBy=PXPC.DisplayOrder Asc, P.ProductName ASC&ShippingState=WC

  62. 62.

    honus

    @Southern Beale: Yeah. And the citizens booing in protest of the elected executive officer was a violation of freedom of speech. Have any of these people ever read the Constitution? The speech of the people booing is protected, not the governor’s speech.

  63. 63.

    cathyx

    I learned how to drive a stick shift from learning to drive tractors first. Tractors are much harder to shift than cars.

  64. 64.

    shortstop

    @John Cole: Child, please. My core pans, if you will — well, the saucepans, anyway — are Farberware my parents got me when I graduated from college. Our All-Clad, Calphalon and other good ones are what you might call accent pieces. I can’t imagine ever having a set of anything when different brands are so good for different things.

    One pot I really love is a super thin stainless stockpot from Crate and Barrel. It has a fitted pasta insert, a shallow steamer insert and a little steam-releasing window thingy, and the whole thing cost $35. It’s useless for anything but boiling water, but it does that far faster than any heavy pan I’ve ever had. Sometimes expensive is not better.

  66. 66.

    Maude

    Crude oil is down to $86.63 a barrel/ That’s a bright spot.
    @scav:
    I do see some old trucks around. I know some of them are Fords. There. I iz smart.
    Love that about your father.

  68. 68.

    Dennis SGMM

    @JPL:

    I’m far from being a cooking snob (I hope). I have a set of anodized aluminum cookware that cost more than my first couple of cars. I also have a cast iron skillet and a Dutch oven that I’ve cooked with for more than thirty years. On the other hand, we don’t own a single plate that isn’t chipped. We have a pristine set of Noritake china that my parents bought in Japan back in the Fifties but we’re “saving” it. Go figure. I love to cook and after years of working on my meager cooking abilities my family prefers home cooking to going out.

  69. 69.

    honus

    @Roger Moore: All-Clad is aluminum outside (for even heat transfer) lined with stainless steel. They have made a black anodized line (All-Clad LTD) for 20 years. (They also make a line with stainless on the outside, too, but the point is the aluminum core for heat transfer)
    Sorry, I’m a long-time All-Clad junkie. My collection is roughly the value of a VW diesel rabbit.
    All that said, those pots look like they’re black on the inside so they may be older Calphalon, but the handles look more like All-Clad.
    Don’t let Malkin find out. All-Clad is the granite countertop of cookware. Nobody that advocates social justice should have such an extravagant posession.

  72. 72.

    Roger Moore

    @JPL:

    Why would you buy non-stick for anything else besides frying an egg?

    Why would you want it for frying an egg, for that matter? That’s what cast iron is for. I guess maybe cast iron would be too heavy for an omelet, but even there stainless with your flavorful oil of choice (e.g. butter) would still be better.

  73. 73.

    cathyx

    I can now say I have proof that mac laptops can withstand a full glass of cabernet sauvignon spilled onto the keyboard and continue to work. Although the smell of days old wine left where it can’t be cleaned up is really rank.

  77. 77.

    shortstop

    The neighbors smoking five feet from my office window are starting to annoy. Yes, I know it’s their deck and they’re entitled. That’s why I’m venting to you guys. Shhhhh.

  78. 78.

    trollhattan

    @Dennis SGMM:

    If you ever watched “Six Feet Under” mamma Fisher once made an offhand reference to the “good, good china,” which really cracked me up, because that’s what moms once did–kept certain items reserved for company so important they never appeared.

    Wife.gov has destroyed more expensive pots and pans than I can reasonably count (notably Calphalon and Le Cruset, so we’ve gradually acquired a set of Mauviel, which seems immune to her efforts. My only qualm is the goddamn stuff weighs a ton and it’s hard to toss food in the pan without using two hands. She did need to relent with treating each burner as only having two settings–on and off–once she discovered copper conducts heat an order of magnitude faster than some of the old stuff.

  79. 79.

    JPL

    @Dennis SGMM: China is stronger than ordinary dishes. In fact it is dishwasher safe but you don’t want it going through the heat dry.. I knew a couple that would buy two place settings of nice china and use them everyday and then put them aside and repeat the process. They had the nicest collection of plates.
    There is something nice about eating pizza on china.

  80. 80.

    Roger Moore

    @honus:

    All-Clad is aluminum outside (for even heat transfer) lined with stainless steel.

    They make some that’s aluminum on the outside, both hard anodized and brushed, but most of their cookware is stainless on the top and bottom with a better conductor sandwiched between the layers. Their basic line is steel with a layer of aluminum, but they also make a line that has five layers (three of stainless and two of aluminum) and one that includes copper. Their newer stuff uses different kinds of stainless for different layers so it will work with induction ranges.

  81. 81.

    John O

    There’s such a thing as cherrywood smoked bacon?

    Sign me UP.

    Plus the onion thing. Jeez, could be a life-changing night for me.

  82. 82.

    TaMara (BHF)

    I am such a dork, I came back to see if John told us what kind of pans he has. I need a life….but really John, what’s in the brief case? The nuclear codes?

  88. 88.

    JPL

    It’s so much fun to talk about mundane things especially since we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Should we move on from cookware and china to knives?

  89. 89.

    OzoneR

    You know, here’s a plan

    Congress is more unpopular than ever. There aren’t that many at-risk Democratic incumbents left. Now is the time for primaries for members of Congress.

  90. 90.

    JPL

    @OzoneR: You do know the dems are in danger of losing the Senate, right?
    Truthfully, I’d rather take back the house because even when we controlled the Senate, we didn’t.

  91. 91.

    shortstop

    @JPL: Except for my occasionally catching things on fire and sliding in puddles and slicing myself up and suchlike, my kitchen is one of the few places where I can actually have everything the way I want it and a exert a consistent modicum of control over my environment. (The third baseman is not interested in cooking and loves to be cooked for, so that’s why I’m all “I” and “my” here.) As you say, this feeling is especially welcome when the country has gone raving bonkers.

  92. 92.

    OzoneR

    @JPL:

    You do know the dems are in danger of losing the Senate, right?

    I was talking more about the House.

    Except for Ben Nelson, there aren’t any real conservative Dems in the Senate up for reelection, and Nelson’s gone already anyway.

  93. 93.

    J. Michael Neal

    Harry has been having digestive issues. Let’s just say that he’s leaking out the back and leaving little deposits of waste products sometimes after he sits somewhere. I’m pretty sure it’s not that he’s a slob, as I see him trying to clean himself. That has to be both unpleasant and unsanitry for him.

    I think it’s because he insists on eating the adult food. So, everyone is getting kitten food for a few days to see if that clears it up. Apparently, no one likes the kitten food as much as the adult food, so there is the danger of violent rebellion at the Neal household.

  95. 95.

    MazeDancer

    Voting all Lodge cast iron, all the time. Except when using old Visions glass stuff. Can’t see any reason to risk any aluminum. Of course, I don’t have a microwave either. So not exactly your mainstream foodie.

    Good china is good. But everything that’s beautiful needs to be used as often as possible. Beauty ought not be hoarded or rationed or not included in regular life. Though having The Really Good Stuff that makes a special occasion a Very Big Deal can be important, too.

    However, extremely expensive wine glasses are an invitation to heartbreak. The destiny of every wine glass is to shatter one day.

    ETA: Since I use my cast iron every day I don’t worry about the seasoning aspect. Rinse ’em, reuse ’em. If they need it, even scrub ’em. Just oil ’em up again, they’re great. And having grown up in the South, understand this is sacrilege. But it works.

  96. 96.

    J. Michael Neal

    I’m also trying to figure out how to go into epublishing. If anyone has suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

  97. 97.

    Comrade Mary

    Awesome rack. So where’s the picture of your injuries from assembling it?

    Seriously, I can never tease you again about naked mopping the bathtub or any other self-inflicted injury because I nearly got myself raped by a fan last night.

    I have an adjustable height floor fan that I move back and forth from my office to my bedroom as needed. It’s a standard heavy base with a steel tube reaching up about 25 inches, while the actual caged fan unit with blades is on another tube about about the same length. I can slip the top tube over the bottom tube, raise or lower it to the appropriate height, and tighten a wheel to lock it so that I can get a breeze at exactly the right level.

    When I picked up the fan by the top tube last night, I didn’t realize that the wheel had loosened a lot, and as I walked across the hallway I pulled the top-heavy fan tube out of the bottom tube completely, with the weight of the fan and inertia causing me to continue walking/lurching forward into the exposed bottom tube, which connected smartly with the sharply raised underside of my naked left thigh, leaving a three inch by one inch cherry-coloured bruise/pinch/not quite a gaping wound. But if I had been lined up with the bottom tube a little more centrally …. well, I wasn’t, thank God.

    Anyway, that’s the story I’ll be telling the boyfriend tomorrow night. What do you think?

  98. 98.

    JPL

    @shortstop: Fun isn’t it. I can cook and I’ve made bread but ask me to make cookies and it’s a fail. My sons never bought my cookies at bake sales but I did raise a son whose desserts are to die for.

  99. 99.

    Dennis SGMM

    @trollhattan:
    Ha! That’s us. For some reason we’ve preserved that china for all of these years against the day that someone really, really, special shows up for dinner.

    @JPL:
    Thank you! I’ll head out to the discount mall and pick up some china. My wife and I are both rather aggressive dish washers and the plates suffer for it.

  100. 100.

    TaMara (BHF)

    @jeffreyw: My guys from work surprised me with a Kindle today. We celebrated a day early because, well all birthdays should be a week long, and I’m taking tomorrow off. It’s a big birthday, I shouldn’t have to work.

  101. 101.

    Sko Hayes

    I want a bakers rack, but I want a nice cast iron one. There’s a guy near here that makes the old style cast iron fencing, and he had made a cast iron bakers rack with the butcher block shelves and the damn thing probably weighed two hundred pounds, but it was gorgeous (and expensive!). You could put TEN Tunches on there, and it would hold up.

  104. 104.

    JPL

    @Comrade Mary: That’s why they make jeans. The night of the naked mopping was the funniest ever. Those were the good old days with Krista before she became red kitten and then she disappeared probably thinking that the united states was just plain nuts. Sorry about the bruises though.

  105. 105.

    Maude

    @J. Michael Neal:
    I can comment on your blog.
    The easiest place I found to publish is Barnes & Noble
    Pubit!
    You put all your articles together in one Word .doc and upload it. No need to convert. For Kindle, it is a bit more difficult.
    Go and look at the site and read about it. You may want to start there.
    You can do this and I think if you upload your work in one place, you start making money. Amazon would be good also, but as Pubit! is easier, I’d start there.
    Go for it.

  107. 107.

    Dennis SGMM

    As long as we’re on the subject, can anyone point me to a site or a Southern California store that sells decent racks for pots and pans? All of the ones that I’ve managed to find are either inadequate for all of my pots and pans or just plain silly.

  108. 108.

    JPL

    Who remembers when John slipped on the ice holding Lily and required major surgery but apologized for the lack of posts? He tore up his shoulder that time.

  109. 109.

    shortstop

    @JPL: That one wasn’t funny at all. He was really banged up and in excruciating pain for weeks.

    I know the naked mopping hurt, but damn, that was hilarious.

  114. 114.

    RossInDetroit

    The only kitchen thing I did today was train a newb on how to clean out floor drain grease traps with a wetvac. It’s one of the ghastliest jobs I’ve ever done. I told her not to eat first and now she’ll remember why.

  115. 115.

    JPL

    @shortstop: It wasn’t funny but he was apologizing for not being able to post and several all of us encouraged him to get help and take care of himself. My comment had more to do with John and how loyal he is to his audience and sometimes to his detriment.

    edit..tis why he has a loyal audience also. but next time he needs not to blog and get his butt to the er…imo…

    edit ii.. now that his mom reads his site, I don’t think that is a problem

  118. 118.

    Cat Lady

    @General Stuck:

    I’m with you on this, so by my whip count it’s you, me, my sister, her husband, my husband, a friend from LA and a couple of people I can talk to at work. Everyone else has lost their shit. I concede that it may be one of those cases where if you think everyone else is crazy it may be you, but the wingularity is distorting the ordinary field of perception so I’m allowing for that.

    +4

    ETA: Happy b-day Comrade Kevin! You and Barack FTW.

  122. 122.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    The Athens Nurses Clinic Tomatoes at Terrapin was a great success. Good bit of dough raised for the clinic and wonderful mater sammies and bluegrass music. It even turned cloudy and breezy!

  123. 123.

    Roger Moore

    @John Cole:

    I’d tell you what is in the briefcase but then I would have to kill you.

    That would be more convincing if you were closer to James Bond on the threat scale rather than Inspector Clouseau. You could try to kill us, but you’d only wind up injuring yourself in a hilariously implausible fashion.

  124. 124.

    shortstop

    @John Cole: We’re not that worried. On the way over to attack us you’ll trip and maim yourself.

    ETA: Or what Roger said more betterer.

  125. 125.

    jnfr

    I just went out and told hubby that we MUST buy a baker’s rack, and he was all, “BUH? This is out of the blue.” Which it is not.

    Anyway, O/T, one of you front pagers need to write about ALEC. Seriously, these people need more attention.

  127. 127.

    Cat Lady

    @John Cole:

    You’re watching too much Chuck and White Collar. Shouldn’t you be posting manic progressive screeds on some shitty blog somewhere or trolling Jake Tapper on twitter? How ’bout some Tunch? Thread needs more Tunch.

  128. 128.

    shortstop

    Who in Chicago remembers the Dellwood Pickle on Balmoral? They had a bacon, fried egg and various veggies sandwich with a homemade herb mayo that was pure genius. I must try to replicate it since they were selfish enough to close to pursue other career interests, caring nought about our needs.

  129. 129.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I have a complete set of “Blue Willow” china that is stuck in a cupboard somewhere and is only “for best” considering that we haven’t had a dinner party that did not involve a barbecue and paper plates in over ten years the stuff is going to be antique and worth a fortune at some point.

    In other news my coupon clipping, austerity measures, selling stuff on e-bay, squirreling away money and food over the winter, has resulted in one of the most stress free July’s we have ever had since my husband began teaching back in 1997. All the bills are paid and I still have a bit of a cushion where I could go on a mooch to one of my favorite thrift stores today and indulge in a “bag sale” (where you can stuff a brown paper bag with as many clothes as you can get in it), in addition to various bits and pieces I picked up a beautiful powder blue silk lined Worthington pant suit that I am sure was in the $100.00+ range when it was new. I shall wear it the next time I have to go to court. It is so beautiful I am sure I will get lots of compliments at which point I will proudly exclaim “thank you it cost me $5.00” (I am not ashamed of my thrift store lifestyle, I am proud of it). Life is good.

  130. 130.

    Constance

    @JPL: My grandmother used her Havilland for everyday so I inherited a set with odd numbers of everything. It certainly gives me permission to use it for everyday. And the cups are bigger than any china cups I’ve ever seen, probably hold 8 to 10 ounces. I just checked. They comfortably hold 8 ounces and the other china cups hold 4 to 5 ounces.

    I love the look of John’s new baker’s rack. Wouldn’t work for me. Life in the desert is dusty as hell and everything has to be in cupboards and that doesn’t keep it all out.

  132. 132.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    This is our pot rack made from an old coat rack from a department store. There are wooden balls on the ends at the top and it is triangular in shape. It’s a beast so you can see why I need the heavy chains with eye hooks screwed into the ceiling joists.

  133. 133.

    Linnaeus

    I want my dad’s stainless steel Farberware set he’s had for the last 30+ years. But since I need new pots and pans pretty soon, I guess I’ll have to get my own.

  134. 134.

    shortstop

    @Linnaeus: I’m telling you, that stuff holds up. I didn’t graduate from college any time recently and mine is going strong.

    But don’t put it in the dishwasher or the handles will bleach. I don’t really care that much at this point, but many folks would.

  135. 135.

    JPL

    @Cat Lady: Everyone is trying to hang on to the side of a sinking ship. They have listened to thirty years of the NYTimes is liberal and unions have caused this problem. I don’t blame them directly because they are uninformed. Does it piss me off..yeah. I do appreciate that we have a president that is passing what he can during his term in office from health care to gay and womens rights. I don’t even think he will be rewarded at the ballot box for those things but they will last beyond his presidency. I personally hear that Hoover would have ended the depression.. The funniest thing was when someone told me FDR’s stimulus programs didn’t work, it was WWII and I responded biggest stimulus program ever.. ..All we can do is talk to one person at a time.
    I don’t have hopes that it will work and I personally think people are going to find out what fascism is if Obama loses, but we can’t sit silent.
    Can we talk about Calphalon now?

  136. 136.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @shortstop: Poodles on St Charles Rd in Villa Park had the most insane Italian Beefs when I was a kid. When we were really broke we’d get a gravy sandwich, no meat just the juice on that killed bread.
    ps

    when we were in the Nam they had our pictures on the wall, when we came home an grew our hair they told us to get da fuck outa here!

  137. 137.

    JPL

    @Constance: The secret to using a dishwasher with china is not to use the hot cycle on drying which I don’t anyway and don’t stack it while it’s hot. that ruins the gold edging and decals. That is why it is not advertised dishwasher safe. China is much stronger and should be used everyday. I have old silver and that is also dishwasher safe but you can’t place it next to stainless and I am sure some BJ’er will explain why.

  138. 138.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Comrade Kevin: Happy birthday! How nice to share with the preznit (well, I think so /obot)

    And TaMara, happy birthday to you tomorrow? Weekend? Whenever, hope it’s good. (And where do you work that you get a Kindle from your cow-orkers? I got a card yesterday. A nice card, mind you, but no Kindle. . . .

  141. 141.

    Linnaeus

    @shortstop:

    Oh, I’m definitely a Farberware fan. I grew up on food cooked in those pans. I don’t have a dishwasher, so that issue is moot.

  142. 142.

    JPL

    @John Cole: You often have great posts so what do you think about the President’s losing the independent vote after the debt ceiling crisis? Do you think that’s something he can overcome. Words of wisdom please.

  144. 144.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Cat Lady:

    Thread needs more Tunch.

    :: bangs fists rhythmically on table ::

    Moar TUNCH! Moar TUNCH! Moar TUNCH! Moar TUNCH!

  147. 147.

    JPL

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): Yup .. but not necessarily for sauce pans. I was fortunate enough to pick up a calphalon saucier pans on clearance that works great and my other saucepans are 30 plus year old cuisinart pans. You can’t beat cast iron for frying though. You have fun tonight.. We didn’t hit 90 …wahoo…

  148. 148.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @JPL: It was very nice, the pups were hot but they love it because people are so taken by them. I do have a set of the costco anodized that I use for some daily stuff but when the roux is on. . .

  149. 149.

    RossInDetroit

    Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

    Intellectually I knew some day there would be a president younger than me but DAMN that happened fast.

  151. 151.

    JPL

    @Cat Lady: Yesterday I saw a comment that the President knew the country had changed when he was in law school and that is probably right. There is a choice either become guatemala or calmly talk to people. Our megaphone will never be as big as bozo boortz and definitely not rush but we got to try. Even a simple I don’t know that when someone is spewing what they hear on Fox helps. At least I hope it helps.
    One reason I like this site is because I learn so much, I can vent and I can have cats and dogs. What more can someone ask for.

  152. 152.

    Anne Laurie

    @WaterGirl:

    This makes me wish I had an empty wall. Then I would have a place to put one of these.

    If you have a couple square feet of ‘extra’ floor space (hahahaha), the model we got at Target has casters & a metal ‘grid’ behind the top half. It lives in front of the Spousal Unit’s folding treadmill (which doesn’t get unfolded all that often) and the S-hooks on the ‘back’ hold brooms, dustpans, and sacks for recyclable bags. Not the prettiest solution, but it’s been extremely functional for us!

  154. 154.

    shortstop

    @RossInDetroit: I’m younger than the prez (it’s a thin cushion), but I imagine it’s like the first time you have a doctor younger than you are. At first you’re appalled and a little skeptical; then you start to dig their energy and the fact that many of them seem to be more up on the research than some (by no means all) of the older guys.

    May have told this here before, but I was in a pretty bad accident in a cab a few years back and ended up on a gurney in Northwestern’s ER looking up at a ring of youthful faces. I kept wondering where all the doctors were and then it dawned on me: standing right above me. (PSA: always wear your restraint, even in a taxi. I am here to bore y’all with my persistent banality because I had mine on that night.)

  155. 155.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @trollhattan: I don’t know if you care or if that is your flickr page but you can get a static url of a single picture that doesn’t open your entire account.

  156. 156.

    Anne Laurie

    @shortstop:

    Gave up the old meat two years ago and don’t miss it at all except for BLTs in the summer when tomatoes are glorious.

    Not quite the same mouthfeel IMO, but I have vegetarian friends who swear by portabello mushrooms marinated in balsamic vinegar for their summer sandwiches (MLTs).

    Also, you remind me that my late dad used to fill a nice fresh summer tomato with breadcrumbs and half a pickled onion and run it under the broiler. I haven’t had a ‘real’ pickled onion since I left the Bronx, but I may have to see what’s available in the cocktail-onion section next time I do a grocery run…

  158. 158.

    RossInDetroit

    @shortstop:

    I’m younger than the prez (it’s a thin cushion), but I imagine it’s like the first time you have a doctor younger than you are.

    My first young doctor was alarmingly hot. I ran into her socially and a friend said after “I’ve never seen a skirt that short on a real human”.

  159. 159.

    shortstop

    @Anne Laurie: Mmmm, pickled onions. I’ve got quite a few small onions going in the windowbox; maybe I’ll try quick-pickling some.

    I do like the portabello solution for sandwiches at times. Having really good, textural bread makes all the diff when there’s no bacon. Some bona fide hippie farmers from whom we sometimes buy heirloom tomatoes call a really good effort a “stand over the sink sandwich” because it’s so messy with the juicy tomato and chewy bread. Of course, this cannot be done in winter when tomatoes universally suck.

  160. 160.

    Cat Lady

    Lots of cuties in this sideshow, but I’ve never seen a happier looking pooch than this Lily. Is it possible for a dog to be that pink? And Ziggy FTW.

  162. 162.

    trollhattan

    @RossInDetroit:

    Had a cycle crash in Idaho and my friend took me to the doc-in-a-box urgent care center. Very young, very cute doc took good care of me but that included her checking whether I’d broken my coccyx. This involved things that should never, ever happen on a first date.

    Grand fun, feeling old and humiliated at the same time.

  163. 163.

    RossInDetroit

    Dr. Shrill just posted another great Arcade Fire video on his blog. If this represents his musical taste, I’m kinda surprised but I totally approve.
    I used to wonder what it meant that he linked to this group so often. Now it’s more interesting to wonder what the band thinks of it.

  164. 164.

    RossInDetroit

    Speaking of young professionals, my baby brother has been a research scientist for over 10 years. At his 40th birthday party I looked around at some of his colleagues and thought “man, the stories that I could tell”. Then I cut myself off from the vino so that wouldn’t happen.

  166. 166.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Anne Laurie:

    World Market has really good Pickled Onions if you have one in your area the really good kick ass “Haywoods” English version.

  167. 167.

    Anne Laurie

    @Roger Moore:

    Miracle Whip is teabagger, Palin fan food a tool of Satan.

    Yah, it’s ‘poor people stuff’ — real eggs being more expensive than vegetable oil & HFCS — but of course people who grew up eating it have taste-bud nostalgia & will defend their preference to the death (yours). The Brits have something called ‘salad cream’, which I understand to be Miracle Whip’s low-rent cousin, and when the government swapped salad-cream out of the official-for-GNP-purposes “shopping basket”, the public recriminations practically brought down Major’s government, IIRC.

  168. 168.

    Maxxlange

    What the hell happened at Va Tech today? They locked down campus, because some teenagers, who were attending a summer academic camp, saw a creepy older guy, holding something that they thought looked like a a gun, concealed in some kind of fabric

    Sounds like ye olde false alarm. For which I am thankful.

  169. 169.

    Maxxlange

    What the hell happened at Va Tech today? They locked down campus, because some teenagers, who were attending a summer academic camp, saw a creepy older guy, holding something that they thought looked like a a gun, concealed in some kind of fabric

    Sounds like ye olde false alarm. For which I am thankful.

  170. 170.

    Ripley

    Try a BLAT: Bacon (apple-smoked center cut), lettuce, avocado sliced thin, and real mayo. It’s a nice, complimentary flavor blend.

    For a heretic, I mean.

    ETA: And tomato. Can’t go full-bore on the iconoclastic approach.

  171. 171.

    shortstop

    @Anne Laurie: Well, I really only said that to get a rise out of people, since many feel so strongly about their choice of greasy white stuff. Is MW really cheaper than mayo, BTW? I never noticed.

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Thanks for that tip. In the same vein, I was making a sort of ploughman’s lunch the other day and wished strongly for some Branston pickle. Am going to have to hunt some down.

  173. 173.

    Beauzeaux

    It’s really easy to make your own bacon. Pork belly plus cure for a week to 10 days followed by smoke of your choice. Can’t beat it.

  174. 174.

    suzanne

    Wow. I got my cookware at Costco, haven’t eaten bacon in fifteen years, and hate mayonnaise.

    I don’t fit in here.

  176. 176.

    Constance

    @JPL: Hey thanks. And I don’t own a dishwasher. Very small house. Bet there are other people who can benefit from that advice and who knows? Someday my house might sell and I’ll move into a place that has a dishwasher.

  177. 177.

    burnspbesq

    @trollhattan:

    Had a cycle crash in Idaho and my friend took me to the doc-in-a-box urgent care center. Very young, very cute doc took good care of me but that included her checking whether I’d broken my coccyx. This involved things that should never, ever happen on a first date.

    Sounds like the ER scene in “Road House.”

  178. 178.

    burnspbesq

    I’m old-school where cookware is concerned. I still use my grandmother’s copper-bottom Revere Ware. Had to replace the rivets that hold the handle together on one of the pieces about 15 years ago, but that stuff is bullet-proof.

  179. 179.

    Yutsano

    @suzanne:

    I got my cookware at Costco,

    No shame in this. Costco tends to have really good stuff.

    haven’t eaten bacon in fifteen years,

    Sinner or converted Muslim? It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

    and hate mayonnaise

    I knew I loved ya for a good reason. :) Mayonnaise is one of the worst foods you can put in your body.

  184. 184.

    opie jeanne

    @John Cole: We bought our All Clad on sale, piece by piece, and we don’t have a lot of it. I worked seasonal at Williams Sonoma one Christmas, and they gave us a 40% discount and they had the little 7″ skillets marked down so much that I paid $7 apiece for several of them and gave them as presents to my kids and nieces.

    There was one left over so I kept it and fell in love. Went out and bought the 10″ when it came on sale and for several years those were the only two, but my husband has bought me a couple of pots as gifts recently. He must like my cooking.

  185. 185.

    opie jeanne

    @JPL: crepes. They are very nice for crepes. We have one from IKEA that is used for that. We poach eggs in the microwave in a little glazed pot with a lid, made just for that. I don’t eat eggs unless they’re boiled and/or deviled.

  186. 186.

    opie jeanne

    @Dennis SGMM: We used our nice Noritake china for every day, but the wedding set by Oxford was incomplete so we used it for fancy but small parties, and then for fancy family dinners, just us and the three kids.

    And then I bought a bunch of inexpensive white china dinner plates with gold rims from Pottery Barn in the 90s, and when the kids moved out they each got one of the sets of family china. There were three sets because we had their great grandma’s Wedgewood. We let them choose, and the middle child took the wedding china. Stuff was so expensive when we were newlyweds that we never finished buying it, and yes, I know we can still get the pieces but it’s the middle child’s set now. I think she has 8 dinner plates but only 5 complete settings. That’s enough for most parties. It’s pretty stuff, very delicate pattern, so it looks silly with most of the food that has ended up on it. She loves it.

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