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Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Democrats are back in array!

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Let there be snark.

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

Let’s finish the job.

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

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

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

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

The gop couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

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

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Open Thread

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My carrot cake muffins were beautiful, but my carrot cake loaf said fuck it and deflated the moment I opened the oven and has a divot the size of the San Andreas fault running through it. More room for icing, I say.

Personally, I am riveted to the Chopped All Stars marathon. Looks like my favorite, that crazy blonde Chef Anne, is about to get kicked out.

In other news, I found goat milk in the grocery today. I haven’t had that since I was a kid when local farmers provided it. It is good.

Reader Interactions

140Comments

  1. 1.

    Omnes Omnibus

    goat milk

    Ugh. Goat milk and goat cheese just grate on my palate. Goat meat is okay though.

  2. 2.

    jl

    “divot the size of the San Andreas fault”

    Never heard a San Andreas fault metaphor use the word ‘divot’.

    If Mr. Cole thinks the San Andreas fault is a divot, why did he CHICKEN OUT of his California trip? (He’s skeered of them Sierra hillbillies is what it is.)

    “More room for icing, I say.”

    That’s the spirit. I see Cole shares some of my philosophy of baking.

    I hope for pics of baking successes and failures, and perhaps, some day, some word on, uh, like what the stuff tastes like.

    Semi congrats on the sweets baking success.

    Edit: in view of previous comment, were it raw goatmilk? Fresh from the goat, like in a bucket or something? Super fresh milk is a different experience from modern supermarket milk.
    My experience with goat cheese ranges from blissful to eating something that resembled old silicone lubricant.

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    Lucinda Williams. Free. 8:15 PDT. Irvine, Ca. Great Park, formerly El Toro airbase. Stage set up on old runway. If you’re behind the Orange Curtain, dash over. $10 parking; bring a blanket or chair.

  5. 5.

    Ron

    If you mean Anne Burrell, she is apparently a contestant on the upcoming season of Next Iron Chef. She’s awesome and worth following on twitter.

  7. 7.

    WyldPirate

    Aren’t you just the little Susie homemaker, John.

    Its amazing you’re still single. You cook, you clean, and mop naked. It’s a wonder women are knocking down your door.

    ETA: Damned voice recognition aop on my phone.

  10. 10.

    jl

    jl speed reading fail: grocery store goatmilk.

    Can Cole have himself a goat on his ranch? Milk will be fresher.

    @9 Goatmilk ice cream? What? Who? Where? I want to try it.

    BTW: come out to CA about now next year, you can get garlic ice cream at the Gilroy garlic festival. In my grub loving opinion, it is…. interesting stuff.

  11. 11.

    Mustang Bobby

    We had a lovely dinner of grilled lamb chops, rice with some kind of nuts, and broccoli with my mom’s home-made Hollandaise. All that while watching the Tigers pull out another win by one run over the Orioles, and it was a pretty good night.

    So Michele Bachmann won the straw poll in Iowa, huh? At what point will we all just say fuck it and turn our lives over to The Onion and Torquemada?

  12. 12.

    srv

    I’m wondering if John will be food blogging about his success with Beef Wellington on the eve of the next election.

  13. 13.

    burnspbesq

    I am declaring “Stupid Now” by Bob Mould as the official song of the 2012 Republican Presidential campaign. And if Bob doesn’t like it, that’s too damn bad.

  14. 14.

    Yutsano

    @Omnes Omnibus: Goat milk is much higher in lactose than cow milk. If you’re not used to it it won’t sit right in your mouth. Also too: pasteurization ruins the subtle flavors that are in raw goat’s milk. The things you learn with second cousins who are goat farmers. :)

    @WyldPirate: You’ve gone so far into positive territory you can’t even use a negative form of the verb. I WANT MY ANGRY FIREBAGGER ASSHOLE BACK!

    (I keed I keed. And late omedeto on the new gig also!)

  15. 15.

    sfinny

    I was tempted by a tiny carrot cake at Starbucks, but managed to decline. Trying to only cook my own stuff is really a pain.

    Did manage to have a great dinner salad which included some delicious goat cheese. Haven’t had the milk but the cheese from a local farm is amazing.

  16. 16.

    jl

    If Cole ever gets his courage up to come out to CA, he can get plenty of very artsy fartsy artisinal goat milk whatnot in Wine Country, and old school in Sierra foothills.

    I almost typed ‘$$$$ BS’ instead of ‘artisinal’ but that would be bitter dirt farmer roots showing so I censored myself, kind of.

  17. 17.

    TaMara (BHF)

    Just made strawberry ice cream. Was looking for a good gelato recipe for later and I stumbled across one for Key Lime Pie Gelato. If it turns out, it could possibly be my new favorite flavor of frozen dessert.

    Love goat milk. Also. Too.

  31. 31.

    Amir Khalid

    @Yutsano:
    Goat milk is high in lactose? Didn’t know that. Hmm. Then I should probably stay away from it. Cow juice gives me gas if I take it on an empty stomach, and sometimes even a dire rear.

    Oh, by the way, Guess Who is still freaking out on the Eight Pizzas Later thread, all by her own self. I’m starting to worry about that child.

  34. 34.

    Yutsano

    @John Weiss: Cooking for one person can sometimes be a pain. And there are recipes that don’t pare down well to allow for reducing the portion sizes. And some recipes don’t freeze or keep well. It’s a delicate balance. I don’t fault anyone for not trying.

  37. 37.

    sfinny

    @Yutsano: Thank you for that comment. It’s true that many recipes are hard to downsize, and you end with many repeat meals. I try to counter that by sharing with neighbors, but take-out is a great enjoyment as well.

  38. 38.

    Jager

    @Elizabelle:

    OC has dumped millions and millions of dollars into the “Great Park” for the last 5 or 6 years, so far a big fucking orange balloon and now a free concert is what they have to show for it! Those OC developers are too busy hauling bags of money out of the Great Park to do any developing. Have they sold the OC Fairgrounds yet? If I was Lucinda Williams I would have turned down that gig! Hope she sings some songs with some real lefty lyrics…there will be pearl clutching in the audience if she does!

  40. 40.

    burnspbesq

    @Jager:

    In case you’ve forgotten, the Marine Corps dumped an awesome variety of toxic shit on the ground during the 55 years they conducted flight operations on that site. Cleaning it up was always going to be time-consuming and expensive.

  43. 43.

    waratah

    John, I have a very moist chocolate cake recipe that would often sink in the middle if I undercooked it a little. My kids loved it and always asked for my soggy chocolate cake. They liked it better that way.

  44. 44.

    WyldPirate

    Yutsano@14:

    Thanks, man. I’m too happy now to let my asshole side shine.

    Give me a few weeks. I’ve got 21 contact hours and three different courses to prep. I’m pretty sure my asshole gene will be expressed again in copious quantities in the not to distant future.

  45. 45.

    Yutsano

    @sfinny: I tend to cook during the week and take the weekends off and let someone else do the cooking. This works for me in two ways: it allows me to indulge my inherent lassitude and also gives me lunches and easy dinners with the leftovers in the work week. You should see what I do with leftover fried rice or Thai curry. :)

    @TaMara (BHF): I am craving a milkshake now. I shall go satisfy that craving. I swear the Dawg got me while I wasn’t paying attention. Back soon.

  46. 46.

    rikyrah

    love the attitude about icing.

    went to a wedding today, and the couple chose to have a cupcake tree and a cake. they had a variety of cupcakes, but I had to have Death By Chocolate and Red Velvet Cake. the icing was so plentiful and so rich, it was like being a little kid again, getting it all over my hands. all the different cupcakes had icing as rich, so adults all over the room looked like children eating them. come Monday, I’m going to get the name of the bakery and make a visit.

  51. 51.

    sfinny

    @Yutsano: Well I am the opposite of you in that I cook on the weekends and refrigerate the remains for the week. But I reserve Sunday morning (or afternoon) for eating at the local diner. There is just something about having food served, without any dishes needing cleaning, that is calming.

  52. 52.

    General Stuck

    Got a crock pot about finished cooking with lima beans, chopped onions and chicken chunks. Smells like heaven for a granola like me. Man food, instead of the usual birdseed dishes I survive on.

  55. 55.

    Shinobi

    John you were talking about learning to bake on twitter, the thing that has helped my baking the most, the show Good Eats. Alton brown does an amazing job of breaking down why you need to use certain techniques, which really helps me understand what I’m doing. So if I’m ever thinking about making anything, I try to find a show of his on it first. My strawberry shortcake and my brownies are to die for. Also if you can get a good zucchini in your garden, zucchini bread is delicious.

  57. 57.

    Valdivia

    Carrot cake horror! :)
    not a fan of this at all but hey knock yourself out John.

    I am all Perry-d out and it hasn’t even been one day.

  60. 60.

    eemom

    @Amir Khalid:

    Oh, by the way, Guess Who is still freaking out on the Eight Pizzas Later thread, all by her own self. I’m starting to worry about that child.

    dude. This is like when you finally get enough interesting toys in the playpen that the tot doesn’t notice you’ve tiptoed out of the room.

    Shhhhhhhhh.

  62. 62.

    suzanne

    Mr. suzanne and I just spent half an hour trying to guess who the GOP vice-presidential nominee is gonna be. His money’s on Barbour. I’m thinking Rubio, if he wants it. Hmmm.

  64. 64.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Yutsano: If you break her, I’m not buying you a new one. Now I gotta check it out, I guess. I really feel like I can’t be bothered. But, curiosity and such.

    ETA: Sad, really. But, better there than here!

  65. 65.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: She’s all up in Amir’s grill about how he expresses his faith and how he’s wrong because shut up that’s why! I did get her in a wonderful little contradiction at the end. Which she will just dismiss as she does. Such a child.

    Hi hon. Choco-banana milkshakes are da shiznit.

    @suzanne: Definitely no Barbour. And Rubio is possible but they have to decide which part of the base to piss off by going that option.

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    @Yutsano:

    You’re a bad, bad man.

    Night shift checking in, belatedly. Got home over an hour ago, tired and footsore, and had to go directly to alcohol-and-ESPN therapy to regain my equilibrium. Replacing those vital electrolytes through the magic of Brawndo. Feel somewhat better now.

    Carry on.

  73. 73.

    Yutsano

    @Shinobi: Must. Avoid. Obvious. Tasteless. Joke…

    @Steeplejack: You loved it and you know it. And please that was a low-hanging curveball. How could I not take a swing at that?

    @Valdivia: Had shot number three in the back. Now I won’t get screamed at for being a hunchback for awhile. :) Otherwise hanging in there.

  74. 74.

    Shinobi

    @Yutsano: Apparently understated tastelessness does not convey as well over the internet.

    I’d be more straightforward but I’m pretty sure I’d end up in the spam filter.

  78. 78.

    freelancer

    @suzanne:

    Not Barbour. No fucking way. He doesn’t deliver any swing states and he looks like a pig-fucking Mississippi Jim Crow Era Sheriff from any one of the myriad of films about the Civil Rights Movement. Rubio’s a great pick though. I’d put Herman Cain on the short list as well, insulates them from “Obama is blackity black black, oh we’re not racist, look at our black guy!”

  79. 79.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Yutsano: Nom nom nom. I just find it galling that a religious gadfly like her has the audacity to tell Amir that HE isn’t a Muslim.

    @Steeplejack: Groooooovy. I’ve missed you. Good to see run into you.

    @Valdivia: Hi, Valdivia! The gang’s all here. How are you, girl?

  81. 81.

    eemom

    oh gawd, now y’all have done it. She’ll toddle in here any second now and we’ll spend the rest of the night talking Kain-Freddie-Cole-Doug-libertarian-reach- around/islam-proselytize-freedom-of-speech/israelonazis-bibi-bombing-Iran.

  82. 82.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @freelancer: Barbour is a good jacket, but a lousy VP candidate. Of course, given the current decision making prowess of the GOP, he may well be the choice.

  83. 83.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Amir Khalid: You’re not the first one to ask! I suppose I could roll them out again. It was rather fun.

    @suzanne: Cool. I think with all the creative minds here, I could pull together a rather stunning campaign.

    @Yutsano: In a week, I will be in Ottawa getting all cultured and shit! Woooooot!

  86. 86.

    Mark S.

    @suzanne:

    Rubio’s a good bet. I don’t see how a Republican can win the White House without Florida, and if the GOP continues to let the Teabaggers rant and rave about repealing SS and Medicare, they’ll have a hell of a time winning there.

    Rubio also has the advantage of being one of the few up and comping conservatives who can complete an entire sentence without drooling.

  89. 89.

    Yutsano

    @Mark S.: IIRC Rubio didn’t win an outright majority of the vote. He was in a three-way race after all, so it would be kinda foolish to assume he can deliver Florida just by name alone. He’s more likely to get picked by virtue of his surname cause hey, all browns vote for their own amirite?

    Having said that, I totally see him getting the nod. They’re just overestimating his appeal on two fronts.

  90. 90.

    The Spy Who Loved Me

    Bought an assortment of sorbets at the store last week, lemon, raspberry and mango. Every other night, I’ve fixed myself an assortment bowl with a scoop of each. Yummy!

  91. 91.

    Mark S.

    @freelancer:

    I’d put Herman Cain on the short list as well, insulates them from “Obama is blackity black black, oh we’re not racist, look at our black guy!”

    The one problem is that Herbert Cain seems to hate Muslims almost as much as Pam Geller. Oh, and he’s dumb as a box of rocks.

    Hmm, I suppose I’m not actually making very good arguments against him, considering the state of the GOP.

  93. 93.

    Amir Khalid

    @freelancer:
    Getting serious for a bit, are these clowns qualified to be vice-president? From what I know, Joe Biden has been a real asset to Obama’s administration — as negotiator with Congress, executive overseeing the stimulus, voice in the room on foreign policy, and not least as an understudy to the President. I simply don’t see Herman Cain or Marco Rubio or (shudder) Michele Bachmann managing any of that.

  94. 94.

    Valdivia

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Oh happy times with the significant other. Did I miss these news? Anyway good on you!

    I have been good. Had my romantic get together with my long lost love from 20 years ago, which was dreamy beyond belief. am now totally heart broken cause it can’t work and trying to get out of that head space by going on lots of dates.

  95. 95.

    Valdivia

    @Amir Khalid:

    Rubio will not be the VP. Too young, too little time in the Senate and will not want to burn his brand for 2016. He sees himself as the Obama of the Republicans. Though he is definitely neoconish enough to run with Perry.

  97. 97.

    Yutsano

    @Amir Khalid: You assume that once they get into office any of them will be interested in policy or governance. As the past two years (and beyond) have amply demonstrated this is decidedly not the case. In fact taking on any role beyond their own enrichment and self-agrandizement is beyond the scope of their vision or their personal mandates. Name one piece of significant legislation any of them have enacted. I prove my point.

  99. 99.

    Steeplejack

    @asiangrrlMN at 92:

    (Reply link stripped out to avoid the FYWP! three-link barrier.)

    Is he (or she) this significant?

    Lulz. You knew I had to go there.

    I have been trolling through the lower depths of YouTube–like I do–and I have ended up with the Babys and John Waite. This is mildly disturbing.

  100. 100.

    suzanne

    @Mark S.: The thing, though, is that I think Rubio is really smart, and won’t want to hitch his name to a losing ticket. I think he will be a factor in 2016.

  102. 102.

    Joel

    @Shinobi: Cooks Illustrated is excellent in this regard, too. Different strokes for different folks and all, but I do prefer their general style (and the ATK show).

  108. 108.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
    .
    @PeakVT:

    Dark matter may be an illusion caused by the quantum vacuum

    I can handle that, and I can dig it, but good Lord don’t anybody mention it to ABL.
    .
    .

  109. 109.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Steeplejack: Mmmmmmmmmmmmm I had to strip the link, but it eventually got there. He’s so significant, I would choose him OVER AR. Gasp!

    @Valdivia: Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. But, good for you for getting out there and dating. You’re a dynamic, lovely woman, and any man would be a fool to pass you by.

    My SO is a very recent development. If you are so inclined, you can read about it at my blog. But, it’s just pretty fucking awesome right now.

  110. 110.

    Roger Moore

    @Amir Khalid:

    Getting serious for a bit, are these clowns qualified to be vice-president?

    Sure they’re qualified. They have proper birth certificates proving they’re not evil mooslim usurpers, and they’re prepared to teabag as many rich people as necessary. Those are the main qualifications the Republicans seem to care about. And if you’re wondering if they’re capable of governing, shouldn’t you be more focused on the (lack of) qualifications of the folks running for President?

  111. 111.

    Amir Khalid

    @Yutsano:
    I think the most poorly regarded VPOTUS of recent times must be Dan Quayle. He came to visit Malaysia in 1990. An American friend said to me that it was a waste of taxpayer’s money to provide him with Secret Service protection, “because no one would want to shoot Dan Quayle unless Bush (41) was dying”.

  112. 112.

    Valdivia

    @asiangrrlMN:

    So happy to hear it and I will go read about it tomorrow once I get some sleep. Really enjoy your time to the max

    And thanks for the nice words, you know how to make a girl feel better!

  115. 115.

    Amir Khalid

    @Roger Moore:
    In your presidential elections, I’ve noticed, the VP candidate is almost always chosen from among the losing presidential hopefuls. So it’s pretty much the same thing.

  116. 116.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Amir Khalid: This is funny as hell. I shouldn’t laugh, but, damn.

    @Valdivia: I’ve seen pics. You’re beautiful. And I’ve chatted with you enough to know that you’re a wonderful person, too. Sleep well.

    @Steeplejack: I’ve never heard this Elton John song before. I love it. Thanks!

  117. 117.

    Roger Moore

    @Amir Khalid:

    I think the most poorly regarded VPOTUS of recent times must be Dan Quayle.

    I guess that depends on how loosely you define “recent times”. I’d think Agnew would be awfully far down the list, though that has more to do with character than competence. I don’t think either of them are even close to Aaron Burr’s level among all-time worst VPs, though.

  119. 119.

    Roger Moore

    @Amir Khalid:

    I’ve noticed, the VP candidate is almost always chosen from among the losing presidential hopefuls.

    They often are, but I don’t think it rises to the level of “almost always”. More specifically, it seems to me that the Democrats have tended to pick a Presidential also ran as VP candidate (Biden, Edwards, Gore, but not Lieberman) while the Republicans tend to pick from outside the Presidential field (Palin, Cheney, Quayle, arguably Kemp, who ran in 1988 but not 1996). The last time the Republicans chose a VP from the failed candidates for the same Presidential nomination was George HW Bush.

  121. 121.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Amir Khalid:

    There is a long tradition dating back to the early 19th century, when they changed the rules on how the vice president is designated (used to be whoever got the most votes was Prez, runner up was veep), that the ticket be “balanced”, and by that, it was meant geographically (one from the North, one from the South, in general, either way).

    It often so happened that party unity for the general dictates that the leading candidate from the “other” geographical region got the veep nod.

  124. 124.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Roger Moore: Gore had run in ’88 but actually hadn’t in ’92, correct? To take your list backwards further, Bentsen wasn’t a candidate in ’88, and Ferraro wasn’t a candidate in ’84.

  125. 125.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Villago Delenda Est: And IIRC there’s actually a provision in the Constitution that the Pres and Vice Pres can’t be from the same state. Which the Bush/Cheney ticket actually risked violating.

  126. 126.

    Yutsano

    @Steeplejack: And sometimes you just need to wash that right out of your system.

    @FlipYrWhig: You are correct: the Pres and the VP cannot be from the same state. It’s why Cheney had to scramble to re-establish his Wyoming residency before he could get selected.

  132. 132.

    Yutsano

    @Steeplejack: Dwight is always gonna be an ugly cuss to me. I don’t think I’m going to grow out of that supposition.

    I had another point but I think FYWP ate it.

  134. 134.

    Amir Khalid

    @FlipYrWhig:
    GW Bush picked Cheney to find him a VP candidate, and Cheney wound up picking himself. The Dark Lord must have realized he’d be breaking the rule against POTUS and VPOTUS being from the same state. Didn’t he get called on it?

  138. 138.

    Kathy in St. Louis

    Next time, you need to bake the muffins first, then put the carrot cake in the oven to bake by itself. Opening the oven when something as dense as a loaf of carrot cake it trying to bake is very risky. Since the muffins bake so much faster, you needed to do these two items separately, thus removing the need to open the oven door prematurely on the loaf cake.

  139. 139.

    The Worst Person In the World

    Cole is gay.

    Being gay myself, I know that gay is way good. The only bad thing in this case is that Cole remains in the closet.

    It is notoriously difficult for military types, with all the faux macho bullshit/baggage that entails, to come to terms with their inner sister. My theory is that Cole is subconsciously testing the waters with his many obviously gay posts.

    We should all be very supportive at this critical time in John’s coming out process.

    And there is nothing odd or wrong about a “fault” in the center of a carrot cake loaf. Very common, in fact. Sort of weird if there ISN’T a fault.

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