First things first, if we are going to talk about CPAC, your go to source is Jim Newell at the Guardian:
If Thursday morning at CPAC was an opportunity for congressmen, senators, governors and 2016 presidential hopefuls all around to outline their visions for the party, Thursday afternoon was the time for showmen to rant.
Two of the more fiery – and sporadically coherent – speakers, who by now have become regulars on the CPAC roster, unleashed assaults on the media and American society in general in one case (NRA chief Wayne LaPierre), and on whatever happened to be flitting about his head from one second to the next in the other (Donald Trump).
I think Charlie Pierce, Jim Newell, and Matt Taibbi are some of my favorite reads every day. Wish Jim was still writing for Wonkette. Plus, as I mentioned on that facebook thing, he can handle his drink and was the only one at the DNC in CHARLOTTE in FUCKING AUGUST who came close to sweating as much as me. I spent the whole week with a stolen motel bath towel around my neck to wipe the sweat off like I was at Lollapalooza after putting a drop or so if liquid in my eyes, so it was nice hanging out with another heavy sweater.
I was feeling super lazy today re: menu planning, so I just pulled some turkey cutlets out of the freezer that I had bought at discount a while back and thawed them out. While I am mentioning this, there is nothing “cheap” about buying produce and meats that are after their “sell-by dates.” Those sell by dates have nothing to do with whether or not the food is safe and really are just some arbitrarily made up bullshit that food manufacturers and grocery stores adhere to for some reason. Ever noticed there are never any bruised apples on display? They throw the bruised ones out. Every fucking kitchen in this country has a knife, and all you need to do is cut a small bruise out. But they throw it out, rather than just marking it down a bunch.
I guess everyone is so detached from the food chain that they think a bruised apple means it is bad, when from every apple tree I have ever seen, an unpolished maybe bruised and imperfect apple is the norm. Same with the meat. Obviously, don’t be a fucking moron, but a steak marked down because today is the sell by date is perfectly fine. My general store hangs sides of beef and ages them before they cut them to order. We waste so much food in this country, and I don’t mean the little stuff your kid left on their plate. And considering it takes a barrel of oil to finish off a steer, there are a lot of ramifications. Just use your common sense, your hands, your nose, and your eyes, and you can save a lot of money. Buy the stuff half off and freeze it and use it when you need it.
/endrant
At any rate, thawed some turkey cutlets, seasoned them with some Penzy’s and a touch of salt and pepper, and then just grilled them in the convection oven.
We had some broccoli that was looking like it only had a day or two left, so I washed that, steamed it, and made some broccoli and cheese.
Steamed some kale, then sauteed it with some sliced portabellas, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper.
A little bit of cottage cheese, just because we both like it.
Again, nothing elaborate, but we had a long day and I wasn’t feeling super creative.
Oh, and we took Rosie and Lily to the vet and had their anal glands expressed and got them a pedicure, and we addressed Rosie’s arthritis with some sort of steroid shot, and we are watching her closely and going to maybe get her on some daily meds depending on how she reacts.
wonkie
Rimadyl saved my dog’s life. Gave him two pain free years before his heart gave out.
ruemara
There are weeks I would be on nothing but eggs and lettuce without bruised fruit and veg. And markdown meats can be cut into portion sizes, seasoned and frozen. Full price is for suckers and organic eaters.
muddy
Supermarkets by me have a markdown produce rack. I got 7 lemons that seem perfectly fine for $1.29 total last night.
Aimai
Maybe next time you can separate the discussion of anal glands from your recipe and rotten meat rants? Just to give us all a slight chance to keep our own dinners down?
MikeJ
Roy Edroso is covering CPAC for Raw Story.
Petorado
Cole, when are you coming out to Colorado again? If you come out this weekend, you’ll be in the neighborhood for Frozen Dead Guy Days! It’s almost as idiosyncratic as our fascination with noted cannibal Alferd E. Packer, but if you stop in at CU campus you can eat in the cafeteria named after him.
gogol's wife
@Aimai:
Cole is ineffable.
BD of MN
Penzey’s is my favorite shop for spices. My standard shopping list is a package of the Northwoods seasoning, which is fabulous on chicken and veggies, a bag of India Extra Bold peppercorns, and a bottle each of Vanilla and Almond extract. They have a very nice catalog and I get a coupon for something free every couple of months.
Anyways, John Cole, with what, exactly, did you season your turkey?
MikeJ
@gogol’s wife: I certainly wouldn’t want to eff him.
jibeaux
On CPAC, a photo worth looking at:
Note that from other reports, that author’s contention that the substance of the panel was great and something that everyone should’ve heard was def. more of a YMMV type thing, but that photo.
kc
Don’t yell at me – or maybe do, because I kinda like it – but you DID just throw out a oils of edible food before you started this diet.
jibeaux
On the subject of discount produce, if you have them near you go to Aldi’s, and Latino markets. Aldi’s routinely has things like pineapples for $1, blackberries for $1, avocados for $.59. The Latino grocery near me puts limes on sale TWENTY for a dollar – marked down from their regular price of TEN for a dollar.
trollhattan
@Aimai:
New ’round these parts, ma’am? We like our kale finely minced and our glands fully expressed before we even get outta our jammies. [Stretches suspenders]
Culture of Truth
…and to think we worried at the NYC meetup that Cole is not sharing enough information lately.
I agree about sell-by-meat and produce, though I think the apples come in waxed and unbruiseable. Other produce in my market often looks like hell. ( which is fine).
jibeaux
Cottage cheese, of course, is something unfit for human consumption.
Jennifer
For a really tasty substitute to the heavier broccoli with cheese sauce, just sprinkle some shredded parm over it as soon as you take it out of the steamer, add pepper and a pinch of salt. Easy, good, and lower fat/cal. than the cheese sauce.
Mnemosyne
As always seems to happen, Fred Clark makes a point I was trying to make about gay marriage approximately 1000 times better than I did.
Culture of Truth
Thank god we have freedom of anal expression in America.
But enough about CPAC.
Omnes Omnibus
No one wants to know that. Fuck.
Culture of Truth
For a really tasty substitute to the heavier broccoli with cheese sauce, just put cheese sauce on fried hot dogs.
Ian
Was this right before you prepared this meal you speak of?
And since you shared so much information, why no mention of hand washing? curious minds want to know.
smintheus
The laser printer of my mother in law suddenly began to melt and smoke today. I’m trying to convince them (they’re averse to being confrontational) that they should either demand the company do a recall, or talk to a lawyer about suing. Or perhaps contact a tech website and spread the word to force the company to do a recall. Not sure of the brand, but I think it may be a Brother (which had to recall laser printers back in 2002 for a similar problem). When mil contacted them, they immediately offered to send a new printer – but as far as I’ve heard didn’t use the “recall” word, or offer her a settlement for nearly burning her house down.
By good luck, she was sitting at a table next to the printer, which she rarely does, when she noticed a smell.
Ash Can
@Aimai: And on top of it, he leads the post off with CPAC. Bon appetit!
smintheus
@jibeaux: Hilarious photo, and so sad at the same time.
EmanG
Can we start referring to it as “Ipa-Cpac”?
Always makes me want to puke a little…
David in NY
@smintheus: Printers are so cheap — I once complained that the printer carton had been missing a necessary cable to work the thing, so they just sent be another printer (Lexmark? printer/scanner/copier). Machines worked pretty well — at least until the kids took one to college and threw it down the stairs.
Ed: Oh, but a really good laser printer is not so cheap, and should last a long, long time. My wife’s HP was just about 20 yrs old when it finally died. Haggle like mad.
Punchy
Why do we need to hear your dinner plans again?
Geeno
I’m sorry, but every time I see that phrase, I imagine some “method” actor trying to “express” anal glands, and I laugh and have to start the sentence over.
BGinCHI
John Cole, bruised apple.
We would never throw you out, John, never. We would just cut you and put you right back to work.
NotMax
Limp broccoli?
Cut half-inch off the stem and stick the trimmed end in a cup of cold water overnight in the refrigerator to revive it. (Spritz of lemon juice in the water optional.)
Not making this up, but one of my favorite ways to eat cottage cheese is topped with thinly sliced onion and Italian dressing. (YMMV)
Luthe
You know, it occurs to me the only way to get gun control passed in this country is to link it with federal funding for law enforcement, sort of how highway funds are linked to DUI laws and alcohol restrictions.
Your state wants money for
tanks in every precinctmore riot gearthe War on Drugscommunity policing and training? Sure! …as long as you pass laws banning assault rifles, large ammo magazines, and require gun safety courses for all buyers.Linked like that, the GOoPers would be forced to choose between pissing off the gun nuts or looking soft on crime. And the feds wouldn’t be ramming anything down their throats, because the states would have a choice to go along. Provided they want the sweet, sweet federal dollars to keep flowing.
jl
@Aimai:
” Maybe next time you can separate the discussion of anal glands from your recipe and rotten meat rants? Just to give us all a slight chance to keep our own dinners down? ”
Maybe Cole was so bigly moved by Newall’s description of Trump’s masterful speech, that he decided to emulate, bigly. I know I was moved, and bigly.
smintheus
You’d think they’d just recall a printer at the first sign of it catching fire, rather than deal with houses burning down.
Edit: It’s not about the replacement or payoff, it’s about the company’s seeming indifference to the potential danger.
eemom
anal glands and sweaty Cole. Ahh.
To paraphrase that old RV commercial, no matter how long I stay away from this blog, I’m always home.
jl
And I think bruised apples are not thrown away. They are made into apple sauce, Micky D apple pie filling, and fruit newtons! And in every mixed fruit juice and drink in the known universe (along with white grape juice). Apple and white grape juice are the universal fruit juices in all sorts of stuff that is advertised as ‘healthy raspberry cran pizazz fruit beverage’ and suchlike.
ranchandsyrup
@BGinCHI: Ha!
NotMax
@NotMax
Neglected to mention the cold water trick works wonders for limp celery, too, but avoid the lemon juice for that.
kc
@kc:
“Oils?” I meant “pile.”
Got damn mobile device.
KG
@jibeaux: from the brooking a report you linked to, the diversity panel’s suggestions came down to “we don’t have to change our positions, we just have to change our tone.” Because apparently you just need to tell people nicely that they aren’t white enough and they should go home (even if home is here) and tg at we don’t want the rest of their family ruining our stuff.
Culture of Truth
remember to set your clocks forward and express your anal glands.
jl
@eemom: I do thank Cole for the anal gland update. I was curious but afraid to ask, lest I get a scolding.
Now, for a Steve butt dingleberry hygiene update. I assume Cole has not tried to shave his cat’s ass again. There was a pic of his hands lately, and all the fingers were there, and no blood or deep scars.
bago
Wonkette is my favorite writer incubator. Weigel, Newell, Layne, Cox and Princess Sparkle Pony. Hooray!
NotMax
Does Steve have a shave-by date?
Omnes Omnibus
@eemom: I left you something in an earlier thread. If you care.
John Cole
@BD of MN: 33rd and Galena chicken and pork rub is what the label said.
Billy K.
My method, exactly.
Sandia Blanca
Cottage cheese is one of life’s great gifts! I love it with dry roasted peanuts (unsalted), or with a nice ripe tomato.
ranchandsyrup
Really liked this post on depression that I saw on the twitters. Powerful writing.
ruemara
My dinner was the last portions of the absolutely mega sized sammich I got from Tartine, down in the Mission. And boy, am I feeling it. I don’t normally eat wheat, bread, dairy or much oil and i think the bread was so full of oil it counted as paleo. But it was a delicious meal.
OK. WD red or green drives for my synology? And 7200 rpms or 5400? Not sure if the seek times will be greatly improved.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@ruemara:
You were only a few blocks from my office! You should have stopped by! (Especially if you had yummies from Tartine, but really, you’d be welcome any time.)
ruemara
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: How do you stay even remotely healthy with Tartine in your neighborhood? And mentally, I waved at all who were near. *wave*
? Martin
@ruemara: Greens are shit. Get the red. Don’t bother with 7200s in the synology. It’s a NAS, so you’re going to be bandwidth/latency limited on the network anyway.
I’ve got a Synology 411slim. 4 bay 2.5″ drives, and I love it. It’s been a fantastic little unit. It’s about ¼ the size of the 3.5″ units, much quieter, and with 1TB drives not too shabby on capacity. Trying to track down some of the new 2TB 9.5mm laptop drives for it.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@ruemara: Staying healthy in that neighborhood is a challenge, between the excessively delicious array of eateries and the ravening hordes of batshit/druggie/gangland/drunk/just-plain-fucked-up creeps that surround them. I just walk really fast.
opiejeanne
@jibeaux: seems to be favored by overweight people, or it used to be. Has that changed? The only thin people I’ve ever seen eating it were in ads, aside from small thin children being coerced.
opiejeanne
@NotMax: mom used to snip some chives into cottage cheese.
Joseph Nobles
Monday morning is when my local grocery marks down all the sell by meat. Since I work nights, I’m in the parking lot when they open and I choose what’s either going in the freezer or being cooked by me when I get home. Last Monday I got eight preshaped turkey burgers for $3. Fried them up, kept them in the fridge, and reheated them as needed. I have a bag of beef fajitas frozen for later as well – I think they were $1.50, normally $4.
And the meat specials are pretty regularly rotated, so even the loss leader is worth stocking up on.
ruemara
@? Martin: Found the two bay on sale at Amazon for less than 150 and a used red 3t for 120. If this works, I can use it as a simple cloud server backup and then next month, add another red 3t and get it to a RAID. this is unreasonably exciting.
? Martin
@ruemara: Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. You have a Mac or Windows? The synology will do Time Machine if you have a Mac, so drop-dead easy backup there.
Joel
Just cooking your own meals is the biggest source of savings and health benefits. Everything else is just gravy.
Gregory
If you want news about CPAC there’s always NPR, which devotes a story or two a day in order to balance its coverage about liberal gatherings. Oh, wait…
qwerty42
John, a lot of the grocery stores give the produce (and much else, except meat and dairy) to local food banks and homeless shelters. A family member (long retired) picks it up for delivery to several locations. She does this almost every morning ( the stores count on having this stuff gone). I’m sure their thought is the bruised apple is just fine – as you say – but the unbruised one will be bought.
mainmata
If you were using a convection oven you were not grilling.
gvg
Most people won’t buy bruised apples. Bacteria in food especially meat can make you sick and alot of research suggests that a significant amount of American’s illnesses are actually food poisoning not flu, etc.
Grocery stores know they can’t sell most produce past it’s prime so they don’t waste the space. It’s customer driven. Most around here donate to food banks. My uncle when he was a grocery store manager, also donated to the local horse and dog rescue farm. Broken bags of dog food, carrots, apples…It’s mainly retired horses. Other animal rescue orgs too. The thing is, there has to be an organized food bank or such that is organized enough to ASK and then show up on a regular basis on time to get the food so that the store manager can count on it being worth the trouble. Grocery store managers are very busy and work long hours (industry standard practice)
Persia
@muddy: My local co-op has somethign they call ‘the Has Bin.’ I always check it. I got a whole pound of cranberries I froze and used later for less than two bucks once. I’m not about to complain.
burnspbesq
I’m not surprised you like Taibbi. He has a talent for vivid imagery and a complete indifference to facts and law when they get in the way of a good rant.
karen
John if you like Penzy’s spices you’ll love the Savoury Spice Shop. Order online, best spices anywhere.
Paul in KY
@Aimai: A hardened BJ user like yourself should be immune to anal gland expression quotes being dropped in about anywhere. Like here :-)
Paul in KY
@Ian: Stuffs gonna be cooked anyway…
Paul in KY
@Geeno: That would be a good test in one of those acting classes. Funny too!
Paul in KY
@KG: Politeness works wonders.
Paul in KY
@burnspbesq: He does have a way with words. Sorta reminds me of Wolcott a bit.
Rex Everything
@burnspbesq: You are such a complete boob. If you were any more of a boob there’d have to be 2 of you.
John Cole
@mainmata: Um, the convection part turns on and off.