I baked a pan-cookie. You know, where you make the chocolate chip cookie mix and then spread it in a baking pan and bake it that way instead of dropping cookies on a sheet. Then, when the boy and wife both went out on errands, I cut a 6 by 6 square out of the center, and ate it with a fork and a glass of milk. That’s how I roll.
It’s hot here today, with our usual Oklahoma humidity, so it really sucks outside. Good thing I got the mowing done this morning while the neighbors were at church. Staying inside playing videogames. Well, that and buying stuff to build my own CNC router, 3D scanner, and 3D printer, since I started playing with Arduino and reading the Reprap Wiki.
Open thread.
jeffreyw
Swallowtail caterpillar was acting strangely on the curley parsley yesterday, I looked for him later and he had become a chrysalis.
imonlylurking
I think I’m getting sick again. Fucking hell.
Corner Stone
No issue with the pan cookie, but this…this is as close to evil as it gets:
Corner Stone
It’s a link to Daily Caller, but I saw this headline on Yahoo News yesterday and just wondered who the hell signed off on it.
Hot English Teacher Victimizes Two 18-Year-Old Males By Banging Them, Giving Them Beer
Betty Cracker
@Corner Stone: I wouldn’t mind a bit if someone ate the center part of the pan cookie as long as they left me the crunchy edges and didn’t hog all the milk.
NobodySpecial
Come on, you’re in Oklahoma, Sooner, we know that’s all about building guns. /nod
Kropadope
What video game you playing?
SiubhanDuinne
@Corner Stone:
Not if Sooner’s wife and kid prefer the edges.
Edit: ::shakes fist balefully at Betty Cracker::
AdamK
l stand firmly against this liberal redefinition of “cookie.” That’s how civilizations crumble.
PsiFighter37
@AdamK: Crumbles…I see what you’re doing there.
That does sound like an awesome idea, though. I’ve never baked a monster cookie in this fashion, but it sounds AWESOME.
KG
@Corner Stone: if the two males are not current or former students, it’s not really victimization… Is it?
rikyrah
Texas voter ID law must stand trial, judge rules
07/10/14 01:27 PM—Updated 07/10/14 04:24 PM
By Zachary Roth
It’s far too soon to make any predictions. But a recent decision by a federal judge in the challenge to Texas’s harsh voter ID law may augur well for the chances of getting the law struck down when it goes to trial in September.
Overturning the law would be a massive win for the Obama administration, which is spearheading the challenge, and could boost Democrats’ long-term hopes of competing in Texas. It would be an embarrassing defeat for Gov. Rick Perry and for Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is highlighting his defense of the law as he runs to succeed Perry as governor.
The law, passed in 2011 with strong support from Perry, imposes the strictest ID requirement in the nation. It requires that Texans show one of a narrow range of state or federal IDs. Gun licenses are accepted, but student IDs, and even out-of-state driver’s licenses, aren’t.
Finding that it would disproportionately affect minority voters, a federal court blocked the law in 2012 under the Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which required the state to get federal approval for its voting laws. But hours after the Supreme Court invalidated Section 5 last year, Abbott announced that the law would go into effect. The U.S. Justice Department, joined by civil rights groups including the NAACP and groups representing Hispanics, then filed a new challenge to the law under a different section of the Voting Rights Act.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/texas-voter-id-law-must-stand-trial-judge-rules
shelley
Very sticky here as well, helping to make for lazy, lazy Sunday afternoon.
Caught a few minutes of the Joan Fontaine ‘Jane Eyre’ version on TCM this morning, which pushed me over to Youtube to hear some more of Bernard Herrmann’s music. ‘Lush’ does not begin to describe some of his scores. Also, hard to believe it’s the same guy who scored ‘Jane’ and ‘Ghost & Mrs. Muir.’ also did ‘Taxi Driver.’ And the ‘7 Voyages of Sinbad.’ Whee!
So listening with a chilled glass of Pinot Grigio, even tho the boil-your-water-alert has been lifted by our town.
raven
I’m sittin here eating a blueberry crisp with an oatmeal topping.
Amir Khalid
You ate A FORK?
KG
@rikyrah: I can see how an out of state drivers license wouldn’t be acceptable, it kinda presupposes residency in another state
ETA: that’s not to say the law isn’t otherwise discriminatory. But that doesn’t strike me as an egregious requirement
shelley
Also…my dog Kate’s been jumpy since noon. We could possibly get a storm later, but not till this evening, and there’s nothing on the radar so far. Can dogs predict thunder storms 8 hours in advance?
rikyrah
The Tea Party Isn’t a Political Movement, It’s a Religious One
Obama is the Antichrist, Republicans are heretics, and compromise is unholy. Politics can’t explain how the right acts.
by Jack Schwartz 07.13.14
America has long been the incubator of many spiritual creeds going back to the Great Awakening and even earlier. Only one of them, Mormonism, has taken root and flourished as a true religion sprung from our own native ground. Today, however, we have a new faith growing from this nation’s soil: the Tea Party. Despite its secular trappings and “taxed enough already” motto, it is a religious movement, one grounded in the traditions of American spiritual revival. This religiosity explains the Tea Party’s political zealotry.
The mark of a national political party in a democracy is its pluralistic quality, i.e. the ability to be inclusive enough to appeal to the broadest number of voters who may have differing interests on a variety of issues. While it may stand for certain basic principles, a party is often flexible in applying them, as are its representatives in fulfilling them. Despite the heated rhetoric of elections and the bombast of elected representatives, they generally seek consensus with the minority in order to achieve their legislative goals.
But when religion is thrown into the mix, all that is lost. Religion here doesn’t mean theology but a distinct belief system which, in totality, provides basic answers regarding how to live one’s life, how society should function, how to deal with social and political issues, what is right and wrong, who should lead us, and who should not. It does so in ways that fulfill deep-seated emotional needs that, at their profoundest level, are devotional. Given the confusions of a secular world being rapidly transformed by technology, demography, and globalization, this movement has assumed a spiritual aspect whose adepts have undergone a religious experience which, if not in name, then in virtually every other aspect, can be considered a faith.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/13/the-tea-party-isn-t-a-political-movement-it-s-a-religious-one.html
RSA
Arduinos are pretty cool. In a project a couple of years ago (thank you, Google), one of my Ph.D. students, who is blind, built an Arduino-controlled wristband with vibrating actuators, hooked up to the camera of a mobile phone, so that image processing software could recognize objects on a tabletop in front of him and steer his hand with directional signals to one of those objects. It was slick.
Corner Stone
@Betty Cracker: Only a person with a predilection for the depraved would prefer the perimeter of a pan pastry.
Corner Stone
@KG: Just thought the word “Banging” was an interesting descriptor for a headline.
Amir Khalid
@Corner Stone:
I broke fast today with a cookie that was chewy in the middle and had a nice crunchy edge on the outside. Best of both worlds.
scav
@Corner Stone: Miserable centrists with their predilection for squishiness. Push the edges and envelope!
Amir Khalid
@KG:
I could see showing an out-of-state driving licence as proof of identity in combination with, say, a recent utility bill in one’s name as proof of residence.
Corner Stone
Made home made onion rings last night. Sliced them really thin, let soak in a milk/egg wash for about an hour, then drained them and coated with seasoned AP flour. Shook the excess off then dropped them in batches into a fry daddy for a few minutes.
They were pretty good, but the simple flour batter didn’t seem to stick as much as I would have liked. I think next time I might make a thin slurry to coat them in, and try that.
Anyone have prep tips for onion rings? Made them with yellow onion as it was what I had.
Corner Stone
@Amir Khalid: Balance in all things. What a way to live!
Urza
I’m very interested in 3D printing, but haven’t found enough stuff to make to justify the cost of getting one. Hopefully you’ll post some of the stuff you do with it. I’m quite sure it’ll be a “next big thing” as prices fall and it gets more sophisticated.
Phylllis
Hot & sticky here in lower SC. In mid-July. What a shock. Watching the Braves and googling Washington DC stuff. We’re headed there Wednesday for few days & the forecast looks quite mild due to the air mass coming in from Alaska.
Corner Stone
@scav: It’s an old childhood trauma that drives me to live life on the edge, but desire the center.
KG
@Corner Stone: click bait. And yet, this is me: not getting off the boat
Betty Cracker
@Corner Stone: If you want to eschew the part of the cookie where the magic of caramelization happens, I won’t judge you for it.
big ole hound
@Corner Stone: I don’t get the problem, how was she supposed to contact them once school got out! No harm no foul.
shelley
I like to make a fairly thick beer batter. The important thing seems to be to let it rest for at least two hours before coating the onion rings. To rest the gluten, some action of the beer? I don’t now. But it makes a big difference as far as texture and ad-herability.
scav
@Corner Stone: That childhood trama would pose a near-insurmountable dilemma when faced with onion rings, on two fronts at least!
bemused
@Corner Stone:
A very feisty, opinionated, salty dear relative recently passed away. She was notorious for helping herself to the center piece of every dessert. At her memorial service, her daughter had cut one large piece out of the center of the cake in her mom’s honor which made us all smile.
KG
@Amir Khalid: I suppose. The whole voter ID thing seems weird to me, having been born and raised in California where there’s no ID requirement. You show up, give them your name, they find you in the book with your address, you sign and they hand you a ballot. The last couple of elections, I could’ve voted in two counties because when I moved almost two years ago, I wasn’t taken off the voter roll in Orange County – something which I’ve heard brings our turnout numbers down
ranchandsyrup
@Corner Stone: before puttin in egg wash, put them in (seasoned) flour. Need a dry layer for the wet to stick. Then do a panko layer after the wet. See this recipe for example
Anya
News Max headline: “Eric Holder Blasts Palin, Says Some Obama Critics Racists”
How tame! They’re losing their flair for exaggerations. I would’ve expected something a little bit more sensational than that from them.
bemused
Sooner, if you have to eat your pan cookie with a fork, I want your recipe. I love soft, chewy dark chocolate cookies but hate taking the time to bake several dozen.
Corner Stone
@Betty Cracker: I prefer my indulgences to be moist, tender and something you can sink your teeth into.
raven
Aite let’s get that World Cup Final post up!
Corner Stone
@ranchandsyrup: Heck that looks pretty tasty!
ranchandsyrup
@Corner Stone: they pass the onion ring test — can bite through cleanly and not pull out the onion. Also customizable. Sometimes I season flour with old bay. Sometimes a cayenne/salt mixture.
bemused
A family favorite, my mother’s chocolate chip bar recipe:
1 C butter
1 C sugar or 1/2 C white, 1/2 C brown
1 tsp vanilla
1 TB water
2 egg yolks, reserve egg whites
2 C flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
2 or more C chocolate chips
Mix, spread in greased 9×13 pan.
Topping:
2 egg whites plus 1/3 C brown sugar. Beat on high until it thickens & peaks form.
Spread topping over dough in pan.
Bake at 350, 30 to 35 minutes.
rikyrah
Private summer schools prompt debate on education inequality
In Beverly Hills, high school students can take a U.S. history course for $798 this summer; in La Cañada Flintridge, Spanish is offered for $775, and in Arcadia, a creative writing course costs $605, plus a $25 registration fee.
While summer programs in many California public school districts have been scaled back or eliminated, scores of students in predominantly affluent areas can pay for courses, bolstering their transcripts to be more attractive to colleges.
The classes, which have gained popularity in recent years, are offered by nonprofit foundations on leased high school campuses. They often are taught by district instructors and run by administrators hired by these groups.
The foundations carefully structure their programs to sidestep state law that bars public schools from charging for educational activities, by remaining independent of the school district.
Critics say the foundations, though well-intentioned, privatize public school, undercut California’s guarantee of a free public education for all and contribute to an already wide inequity in educational opportunity by offering public school credit at a cost only some can afford.
“What about the kids whose parents can’t create a foundation and pour money into it?” said Cal State Fullerton political science professor Sarah A. Hill, who studies public education finance. “They say, ‘We just care about our kid’s education’ and you can understand that, but so do poor parents — they just don’t have the resources to pay for summer school.”
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-summer-school-20140712-story.html#page=1
Corner Stone
If your cable has cookingchannel in the lineup, Chuck’s doing Eat the Street in Austin right now.
gogol's wife
@shelley:
I loved that score for Jane Eyre so much I bought a CD of it — which actually exists!
MikeJ
@ranchandsyrup: I soak in beer with a tblsp of red wine vinegar, Pat them dry, then dredge in dry-wet-dry, the dry being well seasoned flour/corn starch and the the wet the seasoned flour and beer. Oh, and 1 tsp of baking powder in the batter.
Works best with Walla-Wallas or Vidalias, depending on availability.
tybee
we took the 100′ seine out to the north beach.
dragged a dozen times or so.
not much to show for it as far as bringing home dinner is concerned but did drag up a bunch of small stuff in a large variety of species.
the touristas are enthralled with the catch.
particularly the 6 to 12 year old crowd.
rikyrah
Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner has been campaigning to become Illinois governor for more than a year now, but there are many remaining questions about his beliefs, his business dealings, and his plans.
In many cases, these questions are a direct result of his refusal to answer reporters’ questions or speak publicly about his policies.
Below are just some of the pieces of the puzzle that is Bruce Rauner—as more facts come to light, we’ll continue to fill in the picture of who the real Rauner is.
http://www.realrauner.com/
a blah
Sir,
I am interested in the depth of the raw cookie dough before baking, as I believe will want to undertake the same endeavor and want it to come out right.
WereBear
Safety first.
Corner Stone
@a blah: Don’t call him “Sir”, mister! He bakes for a living!
rikyrah
Whites getting more spots at top Chicago public high schools
Mon, 04/28/2014 – 12:18am
Tim Novak and Chris Fusco
More white students are walking the halls at Chicago’s top four public high schools.
At Walter Payton College Prep on the Near North Side, more than 41 percent of freshmen admitted the past four years have been white, compared to 29 percent in 2009, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of Chicago Public Schools data has found.
At Jones College Prep in the South Loop, 38 percent of this year’s freshman class is white, compared to 29 percent four years ago.
In 2010 — the first year race was no longer used to determine the makeup of Chicago schools — the percentage of white freshmen at Northside College Prep in North Park rose from 37 percent to 48 percent.
And at Whitney Young College Prep on the Near West Side, the percentage of black freshmen has steadily declined in the past three years, while the percentage of whites has risen.
The increase in the number of white students fulfills the predictions of education observers that minority students would be edged out of slots at the city’s top schools as a result of a 2009 ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras lifting a 1980 consent decree that had required Chicago’s schools to be desegregated, with no school being more than 35 percent white.
“We saw that coming in 2009,” says Julie Woestehoff, executive director of the group Parents United for Responsible Education.
As things now stand, Woestehoff says, “I consider these schools to be gated communities for children of privilege.”
http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/whites-getting-more-spots-top-chicago-public-high-schools/sun-04272014-434pm
Pogonip
@Amir Khalid: Which was crunchier, the fork or the glass?
rikyrah
Exclusive poll: Karen Lewis could give Rahm run for his money
Sun, 07/13/2014 – 3:02pm
Natasha Korecki
@natashakorecki | Email
For the past couple of weeks, Karen Lewis has been saying she is “seriously” considering running for mayor.
It turns out voters are taking the fiery Chicago Teachers Union president’s potential candidacy seriously as well.
And Mayor Rahm Emanuel probably should, too.
At least that’s what a surprising new Early & Often Poll suggests.
If the mayoral election were held today, the lightning rod union leader who was the architect behind a 2012 teachers’ strike would beat Emanuel by 9 percentage points in a head-to-head contest, the survey found.
Lewis was leading Emanuel 45 percent to 36 percent with 18 percent of the likely voters undecided.
And Emanuel could face an even steeper hill if he faces Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, long considered his most formidable challenger.
A head-to-head contest found Preckwinkle romping Emanuel by a stunning 24 points.
Preckwinkle dominated with 55 percent of those surveyed. Emanuel notched just under 31 percent.
“Laughable” is what Emanuel’s camp called the results of the automated telephone poll, conducted for the Sun-Times’ political portal by We Ask America.
http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/exclusive-poll-karen-lewis-could-give-rahm-run-his-money/sun-07132014-302pm
Soonergrunt
@Kropadope: SWTOR on the Shadowlands server and L4D2.
Soonergrunt
@bemused: cut about a 1/3 of a cup of flour out of it and undercook it a little from the recipe on the Toll House chocolate chips package.
J R in WV
@Corner Stone:
Use bigger onions, cut a slice just less than half an inch, dust them with dry flour and freeze them. Then dip them in milk and egg batter, and then hit the corn meal mix, or fancy bread crumbs. Then freeze them more, and while icy cold, drop them into hot fat, until golden brown.
My first job was in a repurposed grocery store turned into an IT shop, right next door to a 24-hour bowling alley beer joint that served the best food you can imagine. Back before my time it was in an industrial area with 3 shifts, someone was always coming in to an afterwork league to bowl, and eat and drink ice cold draft.
They took the onion rings out of the big walk in freezer, already portioned in a paper tray, and I couldn’t understand why frozen rings were so good. Then one afternoon I saw them making the onion rings up ahead while short orders were few and far between.
I’m not positive about the cornmeal vrs. the bread crumbs, but frozen, to keep the actual onion from overcooking before the crust was golden.
And phooey to a boil water advisory, the water here was toxic waste for a couple of months! Just this past week a big headline, “More Toxic Than Previously Believed!” cause it kills fish, water bugs, etc, etc. But hey, it smells like candy, so Yay!
Corner Stone
@J R in WV: Umm, you won’t mind if I take your suggestion on advisement, will you?
karen
Is that a blondie Soonergrunt?
Drew
Good for you on the reprap stuff, that whole sector of open source hardware is fascinating. I built my reprap (MendelMax) back a few years ago and am still having fun with it. Instead of printing Yodas all day, I think of something I need, design it in OpenSCAD and print it — see if it will work and if not, modify and print again. Beautiful technology. Had I not skimped for cheap parts instead of good parts, I’d have had it built for about $800 with LCD controller, but it really cost me up over $900. Going to be presenting the printer again at our local Con in a couple weeks, http://www.wyvacon.com/