There’s been a lot of rancor in the comments sections lately. I think it’s because we’re living in the days that end in the letters “d-a-y” for English-speaking US Americans, so it’s to be expected. But here’s a healing balm:
It’s an apple pie that my husband baked yesterday. As you can see, he doesn’t get all fussy with the crimping of the crust, but damn is it tasty! Open thread!
chopper
OMG PIE
chopper
i had a slab peach pie the other day. many, many square feet of pie.
Amir Khalid
Did Slate end their “five free stories and then the paywall goes up” thing? Because I’ve not seen their countdown pop-up when I clicked on a story this week.
redshirt
There’s been rancor?
I have a ton – a TON – of wild raspberries and blackberries and so these few weeks are just awesome. I work outside, get hot and sweaty, then pick a bunch of berries and work on.
srv
I am unable to find something to be outraged about this morning.
Amir Khalid
That’s not a pie crust a professional baker would make, but since the whole thing tasted good I’m sure no one gave a damn.
Betty Cracker
@Amir Khalid: I didn’t even know they were instituting such a policy. I got so used to ignoring their pitches to subscribe that I trained myself to click off pop-ups without reading so much as a word. I’m not a huge fan of Slate, but sometimes it’s worthwhile. (Lithwick is pretty good, for example.)
redshirt
I’ve finally identified the blackberry bush. I was cutting them down in previous years as a weed. But I learned!
ruemara
While I think the sweet rolls could use more filling, people like them. But I have enough dough left over to make another batch. So, candy some lemons, chop some dark chocolate and roll that into a folded loaf? And here’s this rum, so a boozy glaze? I’m getting nervous, I get really bakey when I’m nervous.
ShadeTail
I haven’t figured out the art of making pie crust yet, but I’ve gotten really good with filling made of apples or blackberries. The main secret to good apple filling is lots of cinnamon. With blackberries, on the other hand, the secret is 1 or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Simon Taverner
Huh
JohnnyHitNRunPraline
F**K YOUR PIE!
(I kid, I kid.) #rancor
Amir Khalid
@Betty Cracker:
They started it in June, as I recall. My only reaction then was the same as yours would have been, that I’d miss reading Dahlia Lithwick (I think she’s almost their only worthwhile writer — it sure isn’t Saletan or, dear God, Reihan fucking Salam). It must have been a complete bust if they’re ending it so soon.
srv
@ShadeTail:
I’ve been sticking with Stephanie, anything more sophisticated ends in disaster, as all liberal things do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiVox7JDCpk
wuzzat
That pie looks really good, even though I’m feeling slightly queasy for some reason today. (I think it has to do with whatever plague was going around the office last week. Not rancor.)
MazeDancer
The Moral Monday protest in St. Louis is resulting in mass arrests.
Which can be followed in real time on Twitter.
Two of activists featured on NYTimes piece published this AM about Twitter Activists Johnetta Elzie, DeRay Mckesson and Zellie Imani have been arrested.
Here is DeRay’s Vine Tweet of same before they arrested him: https://twitter.com/deray/status/630806642863525888
redshirt
Was the Rancor Jabba’s monster in Return of the Jedi? The one Luke kills?
Betty Cracker
@ruemara: That all sounds delish! The mister gets bakey when the weather sucks. So there’s always a silver lining here when the weather sucks. I can’t bake worth a damn, although I am an okay cook.
@Amir Khalid: Saletan and Salam — gah! If there was any justice, those two would be locked in mortal combat throughout time like the “Lazarus” episode in the original Star Trek.
EZSmirkzz
Just so you know I downloaded and installed Chrome just to read the blogs, and though you haven’t said anything about ad-blockers yet, like some blogs that will remain unmentioned, (but I’m looking at you eschaton and talking points memo, ( hint, hint, (for the clearly obtuse, doncha know,))) May your coffers overflow, may your font of wisdom trickle and something something to make this witty.
Also too, nice ads!
Asshole bloggers.
the Conster
@MazeDancer:
Cornel West too. Shit got real there today. Nothing has changed, at all.
Tree With Water
To all members of the 2015 republican party, wherever you are: Thank you for being you.. and shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun:
“..The tea party Michigan lawmaker who faked being involved in a gay sex scandal said on Monday he did so to expose people who were blackmailing him and that he had no plans to resign.
State Rep. Todd Courser (R) posted a 27-minute audio monologue to his website giving his side of the story following last week’s blockbuster report in the Detroit News that said he manufactured the phony scandal to hide a real affair with a female lawmaker, Rep. Cindy Gamrat (R)..”.
Another Holocene Human
16 yo girl killed in Florida by another teen by gun in the home left there “for her protection”.
Eric S.
An update on my very, very first world problems. My pursuit of a classic Porsche 911 has been derailed for the moment. Friday I had a car in Sacramento (I’m in Chicago) inspected by an independent mechanic. The inspection report revealed a great many mechanical and cosmetic issues. The dealer selling the car has an asking price of a very high #2 if not a #1 car. The condition is more of a low #4 car.
I still need to have a phone conversation with the mechanic and I might throw a very low ball offer at the dealer to see if they bite. In reality though it is time to start searching for another car.
El Caganer
@Tree With Water: ….and he wants you to know that he really didn’t mean that bit about selling nuclear secrets to the ayatollahs.
Elie
YUMMY Betty! I love apple pie. I love all berry pies pretty much
Here is the recipe for one of my faves
Strawberry Vinegar Pie
1 cup sugar
5 tbsp.cornstarch
½ tsp. ground cardamom
¼ tsp. salt
5 cups sliced strawberries
1 tsp. lemon zest
¼ cup aged sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar
1 (14.1-oz.)package refrigerated piecrusts, divided
1. Preheat oven to 425º. Whisk together sugar and next 3 ingredients. Combine strawberries, lemon zest and sugar mixture. Stir in vinegar. Set aside.
2. Roll 1 piecrust to an ½-in. thickness on a lightly floured surface. Fit into a 9-in. pie plate according to package directions; fold edges under and crimp. Chill 10 minutes.
3. Spoon berry mixture into piecrust. Roll remaining piecrust to an ½-in. thickness; cut into ½-in. strips. Arrange in a lattice design over filling.
4. Bake on an aluminum-foil-lined baking sheet for 15 to 20 minutes; reduce heat to 350° and bake 30 to 45 more minutes or until bubbly and golden, shielding edges with aluminum foil during last 15 minutes if necessary. Remove to wire rack; cool 1 hour.
Serves 6 to 8
MazeDancer
@the Conster:
Clearly, the State of Missouri needs some serious help.
People show up to peacefully protest and the response is “arrest them all”.
Needless to say, arresting leading peaceful Twitter activists surrounded by equally Twitter-oriented supporters explodes Twitter. And St Louis looks completely crazy. Again. And apparently, justly so.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
I want chocolate cream pie. Fortunately, we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to professional pie-makers in the area, like the Pie Hole in North Hollywood and Simple Things in Burbank.
Amir Khalid
@Tree With Water:
I’m beginning to wonder, just a little bit, about Mr Courser’s mental health.
the Conster
@MazeDancer:
The PD is being deliberately provocative. I don’t know what they think that’s going to accomplish.
The protesters will not pay bond, and feed the system. They’re going to sit for 24 hours.
Jeffro
Here’s some happy times: Election Night 2012 and the post-election breakdown of why & how Obama won.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVhDpQ8Ab-I
dedc79
Is David French the dumbest person on the planet? I ask because: How Is This Possible? ‘Gay Teens Have Higher Pregnancy Rates Than Their Straight Peers’
ThresherK
Another person who can make the flavor work but can’t make the crust look nice?
Good to know I’m not alone.
trollhattan
@Eric S.:
If you’d like I can take it on I-5 and test the drivetrain by throwing it into reverse a couple times.
kdaug
@redshirt:
‘
Me too. Haven’t been paying too close attention, but the general surliness level has seemed about operative.
Doug R
it’s the dog days of summer we can all sense fall coming
Eric S.
@trollhattan:
A friend of mine and I laid out a possible road trip route home. It included a PCH down to north of LA and from there a great many country highways to Alburquerque (his parents live there) and on to Denver (my friend lives there) before jetting across the great plains.
I’m a great believer in cars being driven and may have been amicable to offering a test drive if you were along the route. Slamming it into reverse while moving would have been verboten though.
Roger Moore
What kind of apples?
aimai
@ruemara: Sounds fabulous. I made a batch of “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day” Brioche dough a couple of days ago. We’ve been having fresh chocolate or jam brioche every day since and I’m thinking about turning the rest into cinnamon pecan rolls, raisin challah, and etc… but I like the way you are thinking. Is it a specific recipe? Does it have a name?
rikyrah
A man who knows how to bake…
that’s a keeper!!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Doug R: fall can’t come soon enough for me.
You learn the strangest things clicking around twitter. Apparently David Gergen is still alive.
aimai
Actually, Betty , you are reminding me that I need to go downstairs and make more cherry jam from all the cherries I pitted, or a pie, or both. I’ve been pickling the cherries as well and they are so delicious that we are eating them as fast as I pickle them.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@kdaug:
I myself am a bit extra surly towards Sanders supporters today thanks to the “OMG black lesbians are oppressing me!” BS that some asshole elsewhere on the intertubes decided to post over the weekend, but I will try to think of delicious, delicious pie instead. The Pie Hole has a banana chocolate cream pie that’s really tasty.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@dedc79: Don’t want to give the psychotic’s farm known as “National Review” any clicks, but I’m going to, because I have a feeling this will be entertainingly insane.
ETA: nope, just really depressing.
oldster
“he doesn’t get all fussy with the crimping of the crust, but damn is it tasty!”
This man has his priorities exactly right.
I rank the importance of flavor far above the importance of a magazine-cover crust.
And it sounds like your husband ranks them the same way.
So if we are both rankers, we’re in complete agreement.
You see? Who said ranker has to lead to disagreement?
BillinGlendaleCA
@dedc79: And they told us that the reason we shouldn’t have SSM is that they couldn’t procreate.
jeffreyw
Mrs J’s Famous Banana Cream Pie
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@ShadeTail:
The secret is to keep the fat (butter, lard/Crisco, or a combination thereof) ice cold and refrigerate the dough before rolling it out.
bluefoot
Mmmmm, pie. One of my parents’ apple trees is already bearing fruit so I spent part of last week’s visit picking apples. I brought some back with me and they are now awaiting knife, crust and oven to be transformed into pie. We must have tossed a bushel and a half of apples into compost after a pretty intense storm one night – a lot came down, and by morning the birds, rabbits and yellow jackets had already made serious inroads into the windfall.
ThresherK
@rikyrah: Don’t tell anyone about that! It’s quite a competitive advantage for us men who bake.
trollhattan
@Eric S.:
Ach du lieber, nein?!?
True story: was on I-5 in a rental Mustang with a buddy who had it while his car was in for repair. Driving along when suddenly the thing was shrieking like a pig and swerving into the adjacent lanes. Once composure was regained, “What was that?” Him [laughing], “Reverse.”
Tough car, that Mustang. Sorry for whomever bought it from Budget.
dedc79
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Whatever you do, don’t read the comments. [Read the comments!]
RSA
@Eric S.:
Good luck! Isn’t it funny that #1 describes a “show car that isn’t driven”? Have fun actually driving, after you find your dream car.
the Conster
@MazeDancer:
The Police Union just declared today Darren Wilson Day. That’s not racist or fascist at all.
Another Holocene Human
#BlackLivesMatter called for acts of civil disobedience and deray and netta were arrested today in St. Louis.
Just wondering aloud if Outside Agitator 206 “Black Lives Matter Co-Founder” Marissa Janae Johnson got herself arrested in Seattle today on Michael Brown’s behalf (who she was so worried about over the weekend) or if her role as “agitator” is not to be the vanguard of the revolution and she’s gonna leave getting arrested to the proles?
I don’t like her. This has nothing to do with Bernie or anything else. (wevs, I’m supporting Hilary atm but that’s months away) I’m just wondering, if she cares so damn much, did she walk the walk?
Another Holocene Human
@the Conster: Local, state caucus, or national, and was it PBA or FOP?
Another Holocene Human
@Eric S.: That car does look sweet driving down the road but I don’t know if I’d want to own one.
I have thought about Miata’s. More in my price range, lol.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@redshirt: We’ve been picking wild blackberries for weeks from the vines that were supposed to be removed from the lilac hedge two years ago. The vines are a menace, but I’ll take the berries for now.
We rinse them, pick over them, freeze them on a flat pan, and when they are like little marbles we package them in freezer bags. We have roughly 8 pounds of berries so far and there are more ripening as we speak. (I can almost hear them.)
And yes, there was a bit of rancor. I will not say that it was as bad as watching the Republicans eat their own because we would never be that bad, could never be that bad, but even that little bit was not nice to see.
Betty Cracker
@Mnemosyne (tablet): I love banana cream pie. I love chocolate cream pie. But I’ve never had the pleasure of consuming a banana chocolate cream pie!
PS: People who use the pie filter must be thinking they accidentally added everyone to it!
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@redshirt: Blackberry vines on the west coast are weeds, starting just north of Sacramento and getting worse the farther north you head on I-5.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@ShadeTail: a tablespoon of cinnamon is very nice in blackberry pies. I used to make boysenberry pies but I can’t find the berries any more. Marionberries were a cheaper substitute for a while, but I can’t find those either. I used to be able to find either one canned or frozen.
Another Holocene Human
@dedc79: It’s very possible and it’s been true for years.
I don’t know that any serious research has been done into this from a public health standpoint (except that they know that queer teens have sex with other queer teens, so gay/bisexual girls have a higher HIV rate as well) because the authorities devalue queer teens just like their parents do, which probably has something to do with the high risk behavior.
(I also think, if they’re anything like me, they blew off most of sex ed because of the hetero focus, but gametes don’t care if you’re not heterosexual.)
JPL
@Eric S.: It’s a beautiful car though.
Another Holocene Human
Another dirty secret, sex work is FULL of gay women. Gay people suffer higher unemployment and earn consistently less than their heterosexual peers, which may be a factor. Gay teens are also far more likely than straight teens to be thrown out of their homes while minors, which may be a bigger factor. Finally, many people in all kinds of sex work (the legal kind and the illegal kind) find that they grow to loath their clients and some women are able to stay in the field and not drop out for emotional reasons if their clients are male and their personal relationships are female.
I’m sure Pat Robertson and the rest of the Immoral Minority crew would shit their pants if they knew that any given stripper or hooker or the stars of Backroom Babes 9 could be gay.
sukabi
@dedc79: might be some forced ‘sexual conversion theRapey’
And since birth control is evIl there are consequences.
But since I haven’t read the article I’m just guessing.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Betty Cracker:
The way they make it, it’s basically bananas in chocolate cream pie filling. Simple but delish. I think another place did a half-layer of chocolate cream, lay down the bananas, and then did a layer of banana cream. Or maybe I just dreamed that one.
dedc79
@Another Holocene Human: One irony here is that French’s advice to a teen who is attracted to other teens of the same sex would most likely be to “Act straight!”
ShadeTail
@Mnemosyne (tablet): I’ve been getting around that by using store-bought crusts. Easier, but a lot less satisfying.
RSA
@redshirt: Hey, completely off-topic, but I’ve gotten through most of the first season of Agents of SHIELD, and you were exactly right about how engaging it gets. Thanks.
Another Holocene Human
@Jeffro: Wow, that was a fascinating segment, and pulled no punches on Republican failures, including their alienating a huge chunk of the electorate by calling them names.
Like the comments said (I know, right?), it’s been interesting to see the GOP fail to take their own advice to change course.
James E Powell
I posed this question elsewhere and would love to kick it around for a bit. It seems that Republican Rage against Obamacare and LGBT rights are not going to be featured in the 2016 Republican campaign. More tax cuts for the job creators! also seems like it’s no longer out in front. So, what domestic policy issues do you think they are going to run with?
Another Holocene Human
@dedc79: I’m reminded of that movie “Saved!” where the girl gets pregnant trying to turn one of her best friends straight, because in her repressed Christian day school, she had gotten the message loud and clear that The Gay was the worst sin there was.
(Good–and funny–flick. I highly recommend it.)
the Conster
@Another Holocene Human:
State of Missouri. I think TPM has more details.
Tree With Water
@Doug R:Mark Twain was right about his coldest winter in San Francisco, which is why Jack London moved to Sonoma. Summers in the San Francisco Bay Area begin in September and extend into October. As a kid it seemingly never failed that the first week of school would coincide with the best weather of the year to date. Although wet winters- and hopefully this will be one- serious rains sometime start in mid-October. With all the talk about an upcoming El Nino, that would be best- a lot of rain spread out over months. Naturally, the ground has been parched. When the last, bad drought broke back circa ’81, it came more as a deluge, and many lives were lost throughout the area due to mud slides that wiped out houses and whole families. The Santa Cruz was particularly hard hit, as I recall, but the same thing happened in other counties, too.
Another Holocene Human
@James E Powell: Shit, they’ve already run the numbers and decided to double down on the abortion thing because abortion is less popular than The Gay these days.
It’s time our side starting telling the ugly, ugly truth about human reproduction because it is NOT all puppies and lollipops.
From arguing with the dipshits online for years it’s clear that many people don’t believe in life-altering and life-threatening complications because it never happened to them. They shoved dead fetuses in our faces for years. Fine. Time to start holding up posters of dead mothers.
Eric S.
@trollhattan:
I won’t comment any more than say many years ago I returned a car to a major rental agency after a 20-somethings spring break. I was not allowed to rent from said agency for a long time. Youthful indiscretions and all.
@RSA:
Thank you! I intend to. It will just take some patience. There’s always a dozen or two available at any given time. I just need to find the right one at the right time.
Another Holocene Human
@the Conster: Claire McCaskill was on Diane Rehm today. Some of the stuff she said made my jaw drop. She’s kind of an amazing politician surviving in that landscape. Anyway, they don’t call it Misery for nothing.
TPM says it’s the Columbia Police Officer’s Association.
Another Holocene Human
Claire McCaskill is worth a listen, I think:
https://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-08-10/claire-mccaskill-plenty-ladylike
skeeball
I always used the Julia Child’s pie crust and it comes out well every time. The secret is to make everything as cold as possible and touch everything as little as possible. So to get the water, I put some ice in a cup of cold water for a few minutes before pouring it into the measuring cup. I freeze the butter and shortening before I start. However, I recently started experimenting with replacing some of the water with spirits. The theory is that alcohol has a lower boiling point and evaporates before the water which will help to lift the crust and make it even flakier. My first run with it was to replace half the water with vodka (figured I’d start with a neutral spirit) and it was the best crust I’ve ever made. I kind of want to experiment with whiskey for my next apple pie or maybe rum for a berry pie.
Betty Cracker
@Another Holocene Human: I’m going to give that a listen when I get a chance. I like McCaskill, despite her sometimes-annoying centrism.
Tree With Water
Peter Beinert of the Atantic.com writes: “..For today’s GOP leaders, this story line has squelched the doubts about the Iraq invasion that a decade ago threatened to transform conservative foreign policy. The legend of the surge has become this era’s equivalent of the legend that America was winning in Vietnam until, in the words of Richard Nixon’s former defense secretary Melvin Laird, “Congress snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by cutting off funding for our ally in 1975.” In the late 1970s, the legend of the congressional cutoff—and it was a legend; Congress reduced but never cut off South Vietnam’s aid—spurred the hawkish revival that helped elect Ronald Reagan. As we approach 2016, the legend of the surge is playing a similar role. Which is why it’s so important to understand that the legend is wrong..”.
Having watched the pernicious lie that “Vietnam was lost” take root, like Beinert I take this big lie seriously. Which is why I want to know more from Hillary what it is exactly she learned from the catastrophe of the War in Iraq, and the role she played in it. She wants the nuclear codes? then she should explain.. If she doesn’t, it can only be because she hasn’t learned a thing. After all, it’s was her inability to explain that cost her the 2008 election. It was indisputably the very worst decision of her life. I doubt a day has passed when she hasn’t regretted it, i.e., given it profound thought. What has she concluded as a result of those reflections? That’s what I want to know, and voters need to know. It’s not a “gotcha” question.
Betty Cracker
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Oh dear God in heaven, that sounds like the best of all possible pies!
trollhattan
@Eric S.:
Had a Maui rental a couple years ago with damage to virtually every body panel (so-noted on the pre-rental walkaround list) and brake rotors warped like potato chips. Didn’t figure out why until driving down from Haleakala when it finally hit home the shifter only had four positions; PRND. WTF? sez I while riding the shuddering brakes. Then I discovered the tiny button on the shift handle that engaged some kind of “I will now shift using my massive brainpower” setting that meant I barely had to touch the brakes the rest of the descent. Rental folks way too laid back to note said button’s existence and with 25k on the car I’ll bet it had made that same trip a hundred times. It was basically used up.
PurpleGirl
Betty: The pie looks fantastic. I love all the bumps of chucks of apple under the crust. To me that looks better than a flat surface which shows that the apple pieces are probably smallish.
Mnemosyne: Years ago there was a bakery on 6th Avenue and 8th Street named Four and Twenty that had great creme pies. All their pies were good, but I especially liked the creme pies. It was only open a few years. The science fiction group I was part of went there for dessert on a regular basis.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Betty Cracker: Doesn’t it just? I don’t make cream pies, so maybe I should start.
I remember some fluffy concoction my mother made back in the 50s/60s called a chiffon pie. I think there was a package mix, but maybe I’m wrong. I can’t remember enough about the things to decide if they were actually good or if I liked them because of what I term a Midwestern palate, which I had until Mom discovered garlic when I was about 16.
Betty Cracker
@Tree With Water: I think asking Clinton what she learned from the Iraq debacle is a fair question. I wasn’t at all satisfied by her answer in the 2008 campaign, which was the main reason I supported Obama instead of Clinton. She’s expanded on that answer since then, now saying bluntly that it was a mistake. That’s a refreshing admission that is far superior to the mealy-mouthed “it wasn’t meant to be a blank check for war” cop-out she offered in 2008. But yeah, “What did you learn from that mistake?” Fair and important question.
RSA
@Another Holocene Human:
My price range, too. I bought a Miata new in 1999, drove it until the repairs started to get expensive, I think 12 or 13 years and about 120K miles. Some car people say, “Driving a slow car fast is more fun than driving a fast car slow,” and the Miata was indeed a lot of fun. Just okay on the straights, but pure pleasure in the curves.
Another Holocene Human
@trollhattan: oh god I hate cars with that tiny button
I can’t think of any situation where driving with less gears than the vehicle comes with is the answer.
Another Holocene Human
@Betty Cracker: I’d like to hear her answer as well.
Glad she dropped that nonsense from 2008. I didn’t really give Obama credit for not voting for something he wasn’t there for, but her position on that in ’08 was pretty dissatisfying.
Kerry voted for that authorization too. I voted against him in the primary, which was not easy to do.
currants
@Elie: mmmm cardamom
Bill Arnold
Bluebarb pie is my favorite early summer pie. Follow a basic berry/fruit pie recipe with plenty of sugar, 1/2 blueberries,1/2 rhubarb.
(I see in a google search that the (obvious) name is commonly used, with plenty of recipes.)
EthylEster
@redshirt:
Um, they are a weed. And keep an eye on them or they will take over your yard and then the whole neighborhood.
EthylEster
@EZSmirkzz:
Thanks for mentioning this. As far as I am concerned TPM can go suck an egg. Their site is so full of repostings and “articles” that contain three lines.
Atrios is not a dick like Marshall (who recently emailed me back when I complained about multiple links and headlines for the same damn news nugget) and I visit his site everyday. But my issue with him is that he posts so little. And often he writes only a short paragraph with no link to explain what point he is making. He has written on occasion that he makes a very nice living blogging. I’m glad but I’ve been running an ad blocker for several years now and have no intention of stopping. Publish quality content and opinion pieces and I’ll fork over through PayPal. But I’m not lowering my ad blocker shields.
RSA
@EthylEster:
I used to be a regular reader, but eventually the fund-raising requests got to me. And so many of their news articles seem to be re-writes of articles in local papers (i.e., of work done by local reports), sprinkled with links to related TPM articles. I don’t see the added value.