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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

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Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

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“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

In after Baud. Damn.

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

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Night Open Thread

Friday Night Open Thread

by John Cole|  July 8, 201611:27 pm| 116 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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My sleep schedule is shot. I was up until 3:30 watching the disaster in Dallas, and then when I tried to go to bed, I couldn’t sleep. Then I had to get up to feed Steve at seven, tried to fall back asleep and got a couple hours, then the light of the day just forced me to get up. I fell asleep on the couch at around 7 and slept until 9, and I feel like I am going to be up all night. Had a late dinner of spicy shrimp tacos with a lime cilantro sauce.

tacos

Do any of you do any canning? I really would like to can a dozen jar of jalapenos, but I need a recipe that doesn’t have so much damned salt in them. Have you ever read the labels on jarred jalapenos? Sweet jeebus.

Playing this free to play MMO called Riders of Icarus. It’s not bad for a new release. Might grow into something special.

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Reader Interactions

116Comments

  1. 1.

    redshirt

    July 8, 2016 at 11:29 pm

    You’re a huge nerd, John Cole.

  2. 2.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 8, 2016 at 11:29 pm

    Well those look delicious.

    I’ll have to check out the MMO too.

  3. 3.

    ? Martin

    July 8, 2016 at 11:31 pm

    I’m pleased to see the state of the art in tacos in WV has improved considerably since the 1980s.

  4. 4.

    redshirt

    July 8, 2016 at 11:31 pm

    If that’s your photo, congrats, Cole. It’s a good photo and a quantum leap improvement over your photos from yesterday.

  5. 5.

    geg6

    July 8, 2016 at 11:34 pm

    My John cans the garden’s bounty all the time. Just made about three or four dozen jars of black raspberry jam over the last week. Alas, he does not like or grow jalapeños, so I can’t help. He makes killer bread and butter pickles, though.

  6. 6.

    Origuy

    July 8, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    @redshirt: Tacos don’t move as fast as Rosie.

  7. 7.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 8, 2016 at 11:40 pm

    @Origuy: And yet they’re still less fatty.

  8. 8.

    Technocrat

    July 8, 2016 at 11:40 pm

    John, those look like Spicy Jalapeno Tacos with a shrimp garnish. I’m getting heartburn looking at the photo.

    I saw that MMO come up on steam. After your rec, I’m gonna give it a try.

  9. 9.

    Mobil RoonieRoo

    July 8, 2016 at 11:40 pm

    I do lots of canning. Jalapenos are a low acid veggie which means to water bath can, you have to pickle them or acidify them. Do you have a pressure canner?

  10. 10.

    The Lodger

    July 8, 2016 at 11:41 pm

    @Origuy: You may have discovered another rotating tagline.

  11. 11.

    schrodinger's cat

    July 8, 2016 at 11:47 pm

    If you like cilantro lime sauce, you should try my green coconut chutney (think of it as a cilantro pesto) you can cook with it or use it as a spread on sandwiches.

    Cilantro ( 1 whole bunch stems and all)
    Chillies ( I prefer Thai birds eye) (1 or more)
    Lime (Juice of a whole key lime)
    Coconut (fresh or reconstituted from dry unsweetened flakes) 1/2 cup fresh or 1/4 cup flakes reconstituted with the same amount of water
    Ginger (I inch piece)
    Garlic ( 2 to 3 cloves)
    Turbinado sugar (1 tsp)
    Kosher salt (to taste)

    Add a little water and use a blender on high speed ( I use the grind setting on my ancient Osterizer)
    Lasts for about a week in the fridge. Good with eggs too. Also shrimp

  12. 12.

    Auntie Beak

    July 8, 2016 at 11:48 pm

    you need a certain amount of salt for food safety. this recipe is quick and easy.

    Basic Pickled Jalapeños
    ——————————————————————————–

    Recipe By: http://www.foodinjars.com
    Serving Size: 15
    Yield: 2 1/2 pints

    Summary:

    This technique can be used for just about any small, hot pepper. Measurements are for 1 pound of peppers and yield approximately 2 1/2 pints. Recipe can be doubled.

    Ingredients:

    1 lb. jalapeno peppers, sliced in half lengthwise
    2 cups white vinegar
    2 cups filtered water
    2 tablespoons pickling salt

    Directions:

    Pack clean, hot jars with peppers. Pour hot brine over top. Bubble your jars thoroughly by tapping them firmly on the countertop and using a wooden chopstick to release any stubborn bubbles. Wipe rims, apply lids and bands.

    Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Store in cool, dark place for up to a year.

  13. 13.

    Keith P.

    July 8, 2016 at 11:49 pm

    Playing “Inside” tonight…I was a huge, huge fan of “Limbo” (the first nightmare this kid presumably went through). I played that at the same time as Braid, and it really killed FPS gaming for me for a while. Anyway, Inside is pretty great. Not too difficult, but has great atmosphere..again, like a little kid’s nightmare, although not as brutal (yet) as Limbo

  14. 14.

    lamh36

    July 8, 2016 at 11:52 pm

    I was up until 3:30 watching the disaster in Dallas,

    This was literally me too last night. I was up and on twitter until, I my eyes just started to close on their own and I couldn’t keep my head of my pillow.

    I’m tired.

    Things fell through at work this weekend. I was supposed to go into work but found out this morning I don’t have to…YAY!

    Going to bed and I don’t have to wake up early!

  15. 15.

    Mnemosyne

    July 8, 2016 at 11:54 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I just emailed you from my Yahoo account.

  16. 16.

    geg6

    July 8, 2016 at 11:54 pm

    Had an interesting exchange on Messenger tonight. Some of you may remember the young woman, Jenna, from whom we adopted Koda. We’ve kept in touch and she moved from CA back to her home in TX a couple of years ago to get her MFA at UT Austin. She has graduated and recently married. She is a Mormon (but, I think, not super strict). Anyway, she has been paying attention to politics and social issues for the first time in her life lately. And she has become very, well radicalized may be too strong a word, but motivated may be a better word, by the BLM movement, the Tea Party (anti) and now Trump. She’s really anguished about it and was beside herself over recent events. She said she felt helpless because she didn’t know what she could possibly do to try to change things. I explained (and gave her some links) that TX could change to purple or even blue if more Hispanics would register to vote and then make it to the polls. And that this was something she could actually do, voter registration and GOTV. She is now very fired up and is going to contact the local Dems to see if they’d let her volunteer. LOL! Let her! They’ll work her little ass off! One person at a time! We can do it! Fired up and ready to go!

  17. 17.

    jacy

    July 8, 2016 at 11:56 pm

    Large protest going on a few blocks from where I am in BR. started around 3pm and still going.

  18. 18.

    Original Lee

    July 8, 2016 at 11:59 pm

    John, instead of canning, maybe you should blanch and freeze those jalapenos. The jalapenos are low acid, so you would need a pressure canner, which is an engine of destruction in the wrong hands.

  19. 19.

    rikyrah

    July 9, 2016 at 12:01 am

    I was not watching it on tv, but still couldn’t go to sleep. Called in sick today.

  20. 20.

    rikyrah

    July 9, 2016 at 12:01 am

    Your tacos look delicious.

  21. 21.

    Alain the site fixer

    July 9, 2016 at 12:02 am

    John, I’ve canned a lot of jalapeños over the years. I’ll see if I can dig up my recipe over the weekend. It’s water bath canning so no fancy equipment needed. I do prefer to soak the cut rings in a lime solution for 12-24 hours before canning to make them crunchier ymmv.

  22. 22.

    redshirt

    July 9, 2016 at 12:03 am

    @rikyrah: Do something nice for yourself.

  23. 23.

    rikyrah

    July 9, 2016 at 12:03 am

    For a mental break, I went to see The Secret Life of Pets today. I really liked it. The adults like me were laughing well. And, the kids seemed to enjoy it too.

  24. 24.

    Aleta

    July 9, 2016 at 12:08 am

    Same on the sleep. So I went to be earlier tonight so tomorrow will be better; too many thoughts and got up again.

    Jalapenos: Don’t know if it will work for your recipes, but I buy all kinds of little hot peppers at the farmer’s market and freeze them whole. I lfreeze them like I do tomatoes, laid out without touching on glass pie plates or whatever for a day or two, then bag them in ziplock bags. It works great for cooking with them. I think they get hotter, especially the seeds. I usually take out the seeds and slice them, but sometimes use the seeds too.

  25. 25.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 12:10 am

    Ah, the rich pageantry of life. Last night MeTV showed the last episode of Perry Mason, “The Case of the Final Fade-Out” (May 1966), and tonight, like clockwork, they are starting over again with the first one, “The Case of the Restless Redhead” (September 1957). Somehow the eternal cycle of rerun heaven soothes me.

    I like the noir lite vibe of the early years, although all the show’s phases have their charms. Tonight’s threatened frail, the eponymous redhead (although you can’t tell in black and white), is played by Whitney Blake, who later went on to play housewife Dorothy Baxter in Hazel. I like mining IMDB for the story behind the story on the guest stars and bit players.

  26. 26.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 9, 2016 at 12:10 am

    I make lots of hot pepper jelly, but that probably doesn’t help.

  27. 27.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 9, 2016 at 12:13 am

    And I’m having a luxurious dinner at Denny’s, which I think may be the only place to eat here in Beatty, NV.

  28. 28.

    Mnemosyne

    July 9, 2016 at 12:13 am

    @rikyrah:

    Moana is coming in November. That video has the current trailer plus the really cute video about the teenager from Hawaii who is the voice of Moana. The way she and her mom tell the story is adorable.

  29. 29.

    Mnemosyne

    July 9, 2016 at 12:15 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Gracie Allen and Harpo Marx both started off as redheads because it looked better on stage, but they switched to blonde when they went into movies, because it looks better in black and white.

  30. 30.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 12:17 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Heh. Vaughn Taylor, one of those ubiquitous “that guy” actors, just showed up as the proprietor of a shady motel.

  31. 31.

    redshirt

    July 9, 2016 at 12:17 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Pretty big town if they have a Dennys.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    July 9, 2016 at 12:18 am

    May be a trick of the lighting, but sure as shootin’ looks as if that shrimp still has the tail on.

  33. 33.

    John Cole

    July 9, 2016 at 12:18 am

    @Technocrat:

    John, those look like Spicy Jalapeno Tacos with a shrimp garnish. I’m getting heartburn looking at the photo.

    I don’t get heartburn from spicy foods. I get heartburn from the grease that often accompanies hot foods (wings and crap like that), which is why I don’t eat them except for once in a blue moon. But hot peppers and curry’s are no problem.

  34. 34.

    JCT

    July 9, 2016 at 12:20 am

    We just opened up my last batch of Cowboy Candy- jalepenos from the garden pickled in a spicy sweet syrup. Sounds odd but they sure disappear quick around here.

  35. 35.

    redshirt

    July 9, 2016 at 12:21 am

    @John Cole: Same. Except for the meat part. But I feel heartburn has more to do with the type of “burn” than any and every eating. Perhaps not even only eating.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    July 9, 2016 at 12:22 am

    @Steeplejack

    Always take info at imdb with many grains of salt. The place is renowned for being rife with errors, which get corrected either at a snail’s pace or (more often) not at all when pointed out by folks in the industry who have better data.

  37. 37.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 9, 2016 at 12:25 am

    @redshirt: Population 1,010 according to Wikipedia.

  38. 38.

    WarMunchkin

    July 9, 2016 at 12:25 am

    For those of you who appreciate performance art group trolling, the fine folks at /r/enoughsandersspam managed to make a fun reddit thread hijacking /r/politics that makes fun of the Bernie Bro arguments. They take it pretty far, referencing an alternative Green Party candidate named “Darryl Cherney” who had the nomination “stolen” from him, and it looks like much fun was had by all.

  39. 39.

    Jalapeno lover!

    July 9, 2016 at 12:26 am

    This simple refrigerator pickle recipe does not need to be canned, and will keep for a year in your fridge. May have too much salt for you, tho. Slice ONLY green jalapenos into rings and pack them seeds and all into two quart jars, with any seasonings you would like (a head of dill weed, a few garlic cloves, some pearl onions or sliced storage onions but *not* sweet onions which will turn to mush). Save out one whole pepper per jar, trim it and slice it in half the long way, and stuff it under the neck of the jar to hold the peppers below the brine. Mix up and add the following brine: two cups cider vinegar, two cups water, three tablespoons salt. If you want to use red jalapenos, keep them separate and eat them first, they won’t keep because their sugar content is too high.

    Leave the jar out on the counter for 24 hours, then refrigerate. You can use this same brine to pickle almost any vegetable successfully, but some hold their flavor better than others which can get too vinegary. Works very well for cucumber pickles.

  40. 40.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 12:28 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Don’t know how long you’re going to be out there (in Nevada), but the food is usually pretty good in the casinos, even the dumpy little venues. I see you’ve got the Stagecoach right there.

  41. 41.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 9, 2016 at 12:30 am

    @Steeplejack: The Denny’s *is* the restaurant in the Stagecoach.

  42. 42.

    Technocrat

    July 9, 2016 at 12:31 am

    @John Cole:

    Weirdly enough, curries don’t bother me. And I love the taste and heat of peppers. But once I swallow, my GI tract is toast.

  43. 43.

    redshirt

    July 9, 2016 at 12:31 am

    @Gin & Tonic: That seems suspect.

  44. 44.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 12:32 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    Ha! You’re not fooling me. I see the name of a certain Hamilton-related artist in the credits for that movie. Have you no shame?!

  45. 45.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 9, 2016 at 12:33 am

    @redshirt: Which part?

  46. 46.

    Mnemosyne

    July 9, 2016 at 12:34 am

    @Steeplejack:

    I’m only one degree of separation from Lin-Manuel Miranda through multiple people right now. It’s more than a little maddening.

    In their defense, they hired him when I was still like, “Hamil-who? That’s the stupidest idea for a musical I’ve ever heard!”

    ETA: Us real Hamilmaniacs can hear his voice leading the chorus, too.

  47. 47.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 12:35 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Ha! Well, there you go. Case closed.

  48. 48.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 9, 2016 at 12:39 am

    @Steeplejack: Ah yeah, that guy!

  49. 49.

    redshirt

    July 9, 2016 at 12:40 am

    @efgoldman: So many people! Up here on the mountain there is not so many folks.

  50. 50.

    Face

    July 9, 2016 at 12:43 am

    Slept until 9? Serious question–do you have a job?

  51. 51.

    MomSense

    July 9, 2016 at 12:43 am

    Drove down to an art walk so I could see some friends at an art center for adults with disabilities. They had a garden party with a band, food, and all the galleries and workshops open. Did a lot of dancing and bought a few things that were for sale.

    My son did dance one song with me but mostly he walked around town with Pokemon Go. Anyone here play that game? He said he bumped into some other “trainers” who were out playing but I don’t think he battled any of them. I watched a Pokemon run through the guitar player’s legs before my son caught it.

    It was really nice to dance and be around artists.

  52. 52.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 9, 2016 at 12:44 am

    @Face: With the millions he makes from this site, why would he need a job?

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    July 9, 2016 at 12:47 am

    @Face:

    Last anyone heard, he was a college professor, so no, not a real job.

  54. 54.

    Gemina13

    July 9, 2016 at 12:48 am

    Up far too late watching the Dallas disaster as well. I went to bed at 1:30, got up at 6 to go to work, and I have 2 more hours to finish laundry so I have nice clothes for a funeral on Sunday.

    Shrimp is a great way to say farewell to this garbage fire of a week. I think a Panang shrimp curry is in order.

  55. 55.

    MomSense

    July 9, 2016 at 12:52 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    I can’t wait. The interview with the daughter who was cast as Moana and her Mom was really nice.

  56. 56.

    cckids

    July 9, 2016 at 12:54 am

    @Gin & Tonic: I must have missed it, but WHY are you in Beatty?? Headed to Death Valley??

    Beatty’s only decent point is that it isn’t Tonopah.

  57. 57.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 12:55 am

    Dunno if anyone will be up, but TCM is showing Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in Dodge City (1939) at 2:15 a.m. EDT. Flynn always strikes me as a little bit “fish out of water” in westerns, but this one works pretty well. Businesslike direction by Michael Curtiz keeps it moving. Ann Sheridan, Bruce Cabot, Alan Hale provide solid support.

    Santa Fe Trail (1940) is on now, but it started a while ago. Jeb Stuart vs. abolitionists, with a young Ronald Reagan as George Custer (!).

  58. 58.

    seaboogie

    July 9, 2016 at 1:09 am

    @jacy: How are you doing in your personal life, dearie? I know it’s been more than a bunch.

  59. 59.

    redshirt

    July 9, 2016 at 1:10 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Due to contracts DougJ actually makes all the millions every year. John is just supplying content for DougJ Enterprises.

  60. 60.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 1:11 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I add parenthetically that most towns of population circa 1,100 would kill to have a place as nice as Denny’s.

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne

    July 9, 2016 at 1:15 am

    G was annoyed because he came home to discover I’d eaten the last ice cream cone, but he ended up finding an ice cream sandwich instead.

    This is our life of high drama.

  62. 62.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 1:21 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    Was it Ladies’ Home Journal that used to have that feature “Can This Marriage Be Saved?” You guys are prime material.

  63. 63.

    Aleta

    July 9, 2016 at 1:26 am

    @geg6: Somewhere on line I saw a letter one can send to one’s local police department. Been looking for it, but can’t seem to find the copy now. The original was eloquent, but the gist of the idea was 1- express concern about the recent shootings by police in LA and MN; and 2- support for the good that the local police do ; acknowledge the risks they face.
    3- ask how much training the local police currently get in anti-bias (ADL) training and in de-escalating conflict situations.
    4- ask what you could do to help bring these training programs for the local force.
    5- indicate you will publicly support their efforts to bring these training programs to the community and help in any way they need.

  64. 64.

    dogwood

    July 9, 2016 at 1:26 am

    @Steeplejack:
    I live in a community of around 60,000 that’s just loaded with chain restaurants. But for some reason the Denny’s closed down decades ago, and IHOP built a big restaurant that closed after about 5 years. The breakfast joints are all local outfits.

  65. 65.

    Aleta

    July 9, 2016 at 1:43 am

    I had the most amazing avocado of my life in May, fresh local big, Sacramento.

  66. 66.

    John Harrold

    July 9, 2016 at 1:43 am

    I normally make pickled chilies (jalapeño, whatever) in the Indian sense. The masala is one my mother in law made. You can try this

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zTx-axNP4ww

  67. 67.

    CaseyL

    July 9, 2016 at 1:44 am

    Cilantro is the devil’s weed. I buy bagged salads, and once in a while get one with cilantro chopped up in it, and have to spend a bit of time going through the vegetation picking that evil stuff out.

    I sometimes wonder what cilantro tastes like to people who don’t have the ew-tastes-like-soap gene. Must be good, since it’s every-bloody-where.

    I, too, was up too late last night, watching shit go down in Dallas. But I wound up not going in to work today because I woke up with a hideously swollen eye for the second day and decided maybe I should see a doctor. Turns out I have an eye infection. (Not pink-eye; I would’ve known if I had that.) So I’m taking antibiotics and putting antibiotic gel in the eye. This is not terribly fun.

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 1:45 am

    @dogwood:

    Good for you. I think thriving local breakfast restaurants are a regional thing, maybe more Northeast and South than out West, where the small towns are much farther apart. A small town on the East Coast might draw from a bigger pool of surrounding customers than just the nominal town population of 1,100, but out West there is often literally nothing between the (far apart) small towns.

    I was thinking about this last weekend, when I drove from NoVA to Rehoboth Beach for an overnighter at my brother’s beach house. My friend said she was hungry quite soon after we left D.C. (around noon), and I was racking my brain to think of a place to eat in one of the small towns on the way. There are a bunch of places (mostly chains) around the outlet malls on the eastern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, but after that it’s a food desert until you get to Rehoboth. Mostly just fast-food chains, and some of the towns don’t even have those.

    (Note: I will give shout-outs to the Southern Grill in Ellendale, DE, and Po’ Boys Creole and Fresh Catch in Milton, DE. But we were taking a different route to avoid the tourists and muggles.)

    We ended up trying to go to El Jefe (near the outlet malls), but it was closed for the holiday, so we had the happy accident of finding great barbecue at It’s the Pits around the corner, in Stevensville, MD. (I question the marketing strategy that came up with the name, but the ’cue was excellent.)

  69. 69.

    Glidwrith

    July 9, 2016 at 1:48 am

    @efgoldman: I asked my husband to stop watching Farscape reruns tonight, since it was keeping us awake. He shut off the TV when I only meant he should put on something more boring. The nerve of that man!\\

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 1:49 am

    @efgoldman:

    See my reply here. Populous East Coast is different from sparsely populated West.

  71. 71.

    dogwood

    July 9, 2016 at 1:54 am

    TPM has a story up on Corinne Brown’s indictment. If the facts are accurate, this Open Door charity/scholarship thing she and her cohorts were running was a huge scam. The indictment says they brought in $800,000 over a four year period and gave out 1 scholarship for $1000.

  72. 72.

    reality-based (the original, not the troll)

    July 9, 2016 at 1:54 am

    John, is there a recipe for that picture? or at least the Cilantro-lime sauce? it looks great!

    I think there’s a lot of sleep-deprive heartsick people in the land today. I was up til 3 , myself –

    off topic – if there is one – I need to add my miraculous cure for brown recluse spider bites to the Balloon Juice store of knowledge, since I posted here seeking one after I got bit. .

    Got bitten 9 days ago, my whole hand turned amazing shades of black and blue and purple, – with puncture marks, and a hard round dead white spot around them. Doc said antibiotics didn’t help UNTIL it became infected, Didn’t want people cutting at my left index finger, so I researched on Dr. Google –

    short answer: soaked hand in strong epsom salt solution 3 or 4 times in first 24 hours, to pull out venom and preserve circulation. Then put on a paste made of bentonite clay, colloidal silver, and plantain extract, smearing it on, putting on a bandaid, changing it 4 times a day for the last week.

    Hallelujah! It is almost completely healed. Still a very small white hard dead area – but it never opened up or got necrotic or anything. Doc said he’s never seen one heal like that, and other than mildly nauseated for the first couple of days, no ill effects from the bite.

    So there. My one piece of ethnobotanical knowledge. But it really worked.

    (activated charcoal is suppose to work too – used it once, dear God, wasn’t THAT a mess! )

  73. 73.

    Randy P

    July 9, 2016 at 2:00 am

    @CaseyL: Cilantro is great, I love it in everything. “Muy bien es cilantro, pero no tanto” (Cilantro is great, just not too much; proverb overheard one day in a salvadoran restaurant).

    I feel bad for people with the tastes-like-soap gene.

    We’re in the second half of our vacation, just hit Dublin last night. Trying to absorb this terrible week from afar. I’ll take recommendations of any sort for food and entertainment. We’re not big drinkers but I like a cup of beer or cider and we do like pub food and traditional music. Our cabbie said the best bet for music would be street musicians in Temple Bar. We’ll be finishing the week in Galway.

  74. 74.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 2:02 am

    @reality-based (the original, not the troll):

    Congratulations! You just moved up on the list of people I want in my post-apocalypse survivalist compound.

  75. 75.

    ruemara

    July 9, 2016 at 2:13 am

    Rough couple of days at chez mara. Decided to accompany a friend to Secret Life of Pets. It’s unremarkable, but not bad. Just, compared to Pixar, it’s just basic. Started some kava to cut the anxiety. 11 more days to some time off.

  76. 76.

    jacy

    July 9, 2016 at 2:21 am

    @seaboogie: hanging in there, thanks. Next court date is the 26th, so I’m just surviving till then. Current events kind of put my troubles on the back burner — I’m just heartsick for the people in the community here.

  77. 77.

    Eric NNY

    July 9, 2016 at 2:29 am

    @Auntie Beak: I’m with you Auntie, but substitute 1/2 your white vinegar for Apple cider vinegar. More pepper, less astringent. Keep it simple JC. You can use these in any recipe.

  78. 78.

    reality-based (the original, not the troll)

    July 9, 2016 at 2:39 am

    @Steeplejack: Great! I was looking for one to join. Will there be Scrabble?

  79. 79.

    AnotherBruce

    July 9, 2016 at 2:43 am

    @WarMunchkin: Ohmygod, that is one of the funniest threads I’ve ever read.Could.Not.Stop laughing.

  80. 80.

    AnotherBruce

    July 9, 2016 at 2:53 am

    @WarMunchkin: Here’s one of the quotes,

    also, if Stein wasn’t a shill for Big Solar, she’d admit that drum circles could generate enough power to replace 30% of nonrenewables. That right there is comedy gold.

  81. 81.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    July 9, 2016 at 3:05 am

    @AnotherBruce: Just the laughs I needs finding myself awake at 3am. Kudos all around.

  82. 82.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 3:15 am

    @reality-based (the original, not the troll):

    The entertainment committee is understandably a little ways down the list of priorities.

  83. 83.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 3:18 am

    @AnotherBruce:

    Can we get some Cherneycrats to primary them? And is it too late to convince Cherney to run as a fifth party candidate?

  84. 84.

    Ninedragonspot

    July 9, 2016 at 3:31 am

    @WarMunchkin: that was brilliantly lunatic. Thanks.

  85. 85.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 9, 2016 at 3:33 am

    @Steeplejack: heh. I might have to check that out.

  86. 86.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 3:49 am

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I have to admit, it’s a lot funnier than I thought it would be.

    That’s why we’re putting together a march to protest the Green Party convention. We will demand our party back. Right now we’re estimating about 50 million people are going to show up. Let’s see the lamestream media ignore us then.

  87. 87.

    seaboogie

    July 9, 2016 at 3:55 am

    @jacy: I dunno – perspective is something, I guess – but your plate is rather over-served…sending you a genuine version of whatever the “thoughts and prayers” folks are pretending…

  88. 88.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 4:03 am

    I am parsing the phrase “diabetic crew socks” from an Amazon promo e-mail I received in these small hours.

    And someone—not me—won the Mega Millions Friday night. About $196 million in the Scrooge McDuck money bin after taxes.

  89. 89.

    seaboogie

    July 9, 2016 at 4:22 am

    @Steeplejack<

    And someone—not me—won the Mega Millions Friday night. About $196 million in the Scrooge McDuck money bin after taxes.>:

    What confounds me is that – especially when the jackpot is so high – NOBODY ever takes the 30 year annuity on the full payout – which is this case would be like winning $10 million+ a year for the next 30 years. I don’t think that they get that you can assign beneficiaries for the full 30 years, and you get to keep ALL the money – excepting taxes.

    I should win this once. I would be wise and my heirs, Planned Parenthood, Doctors Without Borders and the Southern Poverty Law Center would be very happy campers.

  90. 90.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 9, 2016 at 4:28 am

    @seaboogie: You’d blow it all on kittens and blow, and you know it.

  91. 91.

    seaboogie

    July 9, 2016 at 4:34 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Quite close to the truth – puppies and kittens and wine. Possibly a pedicure and a massage. The therapeutic kind. Nothing like a therapeutic pedicure….

  92. 92.

    Barb2

    July 9, 2016 at 4:37 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Oh no – there is a better place – THE place the locals go. Sandwiches, pizza, etc. All homemade. We always stop in Beattie to and from where we winter in AZ.

    Beattie is the gateway to Death Valley. Spring late Fall best time to visit.

    KC’s OUTPOST EATERY AND SALOON

    Dennys you can find everywhere but there is only one KC’s Outpost. We go there for dinner and get sandwiches to go for lunch the next day.

    We have a jeep and we explore ghost towns in the Spring I photograph wildflowers. This spring the flowers were especially abundant even in Death Valley.

  93. 93.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 5:03 am

    @seaboogie:

    Well, the lump-sum amount ($357 million before taxes last night) is supposed to represent the present value of the 30-year annuity, although I’m sure the lotto overlords shave that in their favor. (I can’t remember exactly what the eye-popping top-line number was last night, but it was well north of $400 million.)

    The idea behind taking the lump sum is that (theoretically) you should be able to make investments that would give you a rate of return better than that implicit in the annuity. (After inflation, the $10 million you receive from the annuity in the 30th year is not going to be worth as much as the $10 million you receive in the first year.) Whether most people could actually do that is left as a mental exercise.

    ETA: And of course the $10 million annuity would be more like $5.5 million each year after taxes.

  94. 94.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2016 at 5:06 am

    Okay, I’m going to bed, so that usually means Anne Laurie will put up a new post in about 15 minutes. Take over, morning shift!

    ETA: The Tour de France is on regular NBC at 8:00 a.m. EDT. And the Wimbledon women’s final is on ESPN at 9:00 a.m. EDT.

  95. 95.

    Barb2

    July 9, 2016 at 5:09 am

    @reality-based (the original, not the troll):

    I copied that to my files. Last summer I got a Brown Recluse Spider bite on the back of my head. Nasty swelling etc. Treated with Hydrogen Peroxide plus other things like epsom salts. There seems to be no real conventional treatment and Doc often hand no idea what they are seeing. Diagnosis seems to be hit and miss according to Wikipedia.

    The treatment plan you found is better than the one I used.

    Now I’m out to kill spiders in or near my personal space. There is a handheld electronic insect zapper. It looks like a tennis racket. The thing electrocutes the insects. Mosquitos, flies and fast running brown spiders.

    We got our zapper at Harbor Freight. The zapper uses D cell batteries. We heard about these insect zapper from friends. These zapper look like toys. Our dog freeks at the buzzing made by black flies. Zap and the fly is gone with a popping frying sound and the smell of burned bug.

    If you hate the summer insects – you need one of these “toys”.

  96. 96.

    seaboogie

    July 9, 2016 at 5:15 am

    @Steeplejack: Nobody who wins the lottery ever invests wisely. But Imma put some of my winnings in the Steve and Lily Cole Foundation too. Suck on that, Annenbergs! I’m sure that John will invest whatever he doesn’t lose on field-Subarus and mustard with fairly good judgement – part Scots makes him fairly thrifty.

  97. 97.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 9, 2016 at 6:00 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Whether most people could actually do that is left as a mental exercise.

    Stick it in a few broad based market funds and forget about it. Maybe some real estate too. People who think they can get ahead of the market are only fooling themselves.

  98. 98.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 9, 2016 at 6:03 am

    @Barb2: Just don’t “zap” yourself. Trust me, it hurts.

  99. 99.

    satby

    July 9, 2016 at 6:19 am

    Looks like this is our morning thread too, so good morning to everyone.
    My Camp in my Garden guests have been a delight, the dogs will be in real mourning when they leave and take all their skritches with them. Nice young 20-somethings from the Netherlands.

  100. 100.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 9, 2016 at 6:37 am

    @satby: The Dutch are some of the friendliest, open people on the planet.

  101. 101.

    satby

    July 9, 2016 at 6:51 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: these two are darling. Cute young couple who are taking several months to see the country and visit his father in Los Angles. Well, they started with that visit, drove x-country sightseeing, and will cross into Canada from here enroute to Ottawa. Then drive back to LA. They just finished university.
    I remember feeling that free ?

  102. 102.

    Barb2

    July 9, 2016 at 6:55 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    now how did you manage to zap yourself?
    Holding the insect while zapping?
    Waving the zapper following a fast moving mosquito?
    Or sticking your finger into the middle of electrified zone?
    Or just trying to see if the batteries are still working?

    I only watched insects getting zapped for several days – then I was brave enough to zap an insect. I don’t like pain so I’m careful.

  103. 103.

    Anne Laurie

    July 9, 2016 at 7:03 am

    @Barb2:

    Our dog freeks at the buzzing made by black flies. Zap and the fly is gone with a popping frying sound and the smell of burned bug.

    Is your dog a rescue? We can’t use the expensive ionizing air cleaner in the bedroom because the occasional zap-noises drive our oldest rescue, the one who bolts, completely bonkers. A friend who’s done rescue work for many years told me that’s the noise those ‘invisible fence’ pet-zappers make, too… and that dogs with really strong runaway instincts are known to get in trouble when they charge across the barrier, get stung, and then are afraid to go back into their safe space for fear of getting zapped again.

  104. 104.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 9, 2016 at 7:08 am

    @Barb2:

    Or sticking your finger into the middle of electrified zone?

    DING DING DING!!! We have a winner! You know that person who, after being told “Don’t do this.” just HAS to do it? That’s me. Curiosity will be the death of me.

  105. 105.

    Joel

    July 9, 2016 at 7:24 am

    @Steeplejack: surprised that TCM would run an almost explicitly pro-slavery movie.

  106. 106.

    Karla

    July 9, 2016 at 8:08 am

    If you’re water-bath canning, it’s the acidity that makes the pickled jalapenos safe, not the salt. Make sure you’re using 5% vinegar to start with (white or cider is up to personal preference), don’t dilute with water any more than 1:1, and you can use as little salt as you want for flavor and texture.

  107. 107.

    FarmerG

    July 9, 2016 at 8:21 am

    This is a simple recipe I’ve used before. You can adjust the salt to taste. I like to add some onion and extra garlic and usually mix in some of my Sante Fe Grande peppers too.

  108. 108.

    debbie

    July 9, 2016 at 8:50 am

    @reality-based (the original, not the troll):

    I waged battle with a large spider yesterday. It wasn’t poisonous, but the various chemicals I used to try and kill it (all unsuccessful) had me choking. It took about 10 whacks with a rolled-up magazine to finally do it in.

    Where did you find the ingredients for your cure? Glad it worked!

  109. 109.

    Shell

    July 9, 2016 at 9:58 am

    John, heres a reccipe from a great website, foodinjars.com. I w ont post it as a link cause, for the life of me, I always screw that up on this blog. They also just put up a recipe for a cherry barbecue sauce you might be interested.

    Ingredients

    1 pound of jalapeno peppers, sliced in half lengthwise
    2 cups white vinegar
    2 cups filtered water
    2 tablespoons pickling salt
    Instructions

    Pack clean, hot jars with peppers. Pour hot brine over top. Bubble your jars thoroughly by tapping them firmly on the countertop and using a wooden chopstick to release any stubborn bubbles. Wipe rims, apply lids and bands.
    Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Store in cool, dark place for up to a year.

  110. 110.

    NCSteve

    July 9, 2016 at 10:03 am

    My sleep schedule is shot. . . . Had a late dinner of spicy shrimp tacos with a lime cilantro sauce.

    I think maybe I’ve identified the problem . . .

  111. 111.

    Monkeyfister

    July 9, 2016 at 10:16 am

    Peppers– any kind:
    Step One:
    Get your processing pot out, fill with water, and bring to boil for sterilizing jars. Put your jars in, and get ’em boiling. Get a small pot of water on to boil to sterilize lids. Then turn to making the brine, and start cleaning and chopping the Peppers and Garlic.

    Brine:
    2 quarts water.
    1 quart 5% acidity vinegar (check the label).
    1 mounded teaspoon of Pickling Spices.
    Bring to boil, Let simmer at least 15 minutes.

    In The Hot Jar:
    Peppers
    1 Garlic clove per jar (more or less to taste), chopped thin.
    Pack in Garlic, Peppers, add 1 level Tablespoon of Kosher Salt.
    Add 1 Tablespoon Sugar (plus a pinch).

    To Can:
    Have Peppers and Garlic cleaned, cut, and ready to go.
    Have Salt and Sugar standing by.
    Sterilize jars and lids by boiling for at least 15-minutes in water.
    Pull and use only one hot Jar at a time.
    Pack Peppers, Garlic, Sugar and Salt into jar.
    Have Brine hot, and ladle into into jar to cover Peppers, and within 1/2″ of rim.
    Clean the jar rim.
    Top jar with Sterilized Lid. Screw Ring on TIGHTLY.
    Set aside.
    Wait to hear the “ping” of the jars sealing. If jar doesn’t seal, refrigerate immediately, and eat within three weeks.

    There is no immersion processing required. Make sure the jars are hot and sterilized to begin with, and remain hot during the time you’re handling them. These Peppers come out SO crispy and fresh-tasting, it’s like opening a Quart of Summer in the dead of Winter.

  112. 112.

    dr. luba

    July 9, 2016 at 11:36 am

    @Jalapeno lover!: If you love cucumber pickles, my aunt’s recipe is no-fail and delicious. These are great to make in season–they are made from ingredients that all ripen at about the same time. These are not meant for preserving; after the first 24 hours, they should be refrigerated and can be enjoyed for a week or two (if they last that long).

    Use clean Mason (or similar) jars. Pack them solidly full of fresh cucumbers which have been sliced lengthwise into halves or quarters. At the bottom of the jar and on top, pack in some sliced hot peppers, sliced cloves of garlic and fresh or dried dill weed.

    Over top, you are going to pour hot pickling syrup. To make the syrup, boil together
    10 c water
    1 c sugar
    1 c vinegar
    1/2 c salt
    (Make less if you don’t have a lot of cucumbers.) The syrup must be hot when poured over the cucumbers. If it cools down, reheat it. Make sure the syrup completely covers the contents of the jars. Remember, the cukes have to be packed in very tightly so they don’t float away in the syrup.

    Put the jars out on the counter to cool and set overnight. The next day, pickles should be ready to eat (unless the cucumber slices were particularly thick). Refrigerate.

  113. 113.

    J R in WV

    July 9, 2016 at 11:49 am

    I make peppers with Thai fish sauce and unflavored rice wine vinegar, a spoonful or so of salt, and pinch of suger… a little water to make enough to fill out a jar, but way more fish sauce and vinegar than the little bit of water. Boil it to dissolve the salt and sugar, pout it over the peppers in a boiling hot jar.

    I use boiled jars and rings, sometimes water bath, I put them in the back of the fridge once they are cooled down. I do tiny Thai peppers, and just use the vinegar sauce, sarrano peppers sliced like dime sized circles, use both peppers and sauce, haven’t tried with jalapenos, they don’t seem to be hot enough any more.

  114. 114.

    phoebes from highland park

    July 9, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    Cole, why are you feeding Steve at 7a? That’s just asking for trouble. Why not move it to a more decent time for you? Oh, and that dinner looks divine.

  115. 115.

    reality-based (the original, not the troll)

    July 9, 2016 at 1:22 pm

    @debbie:

    there actually is a health food/vitamin/natural cure store in Grand Forks, ND, about 60 miles away – my sister was coming through, so she picked the stuff up for me. got about 4 oz of bentonite clay, a spray bottle of colloidal silver solution, and some plantain extract for about $40 – cheaper than the deductible on my insurance!,

    although i did go to the Doc, too. His response: “shit! that looks like a spider bite. we’ll have to wait and see how bad it gets. ”

    I think most natural foods/ vitamin shops carry this stuff – supposed to work great on wasp and bee stings, too, so i”m keeping it around – the clay draws out the venom, colloidal silver zaps other infection, plantain detoxifies the venom, is the theory.

  116. 116.

    Peter

    July 9, 2016 at 5:52 pm

    There are a lot of comments, and I didn’t read all of them so I apologize if this is redundant. Salt is not necessary to safely can food; acidity is. Jalapeños are low-acid, as somebody pointed out, so they need to be pressure-canned in general (though there are alternatives). The Ball Blue Book and many online resources can explain these methods in detail.

    You can lacto-ferment peppers really easily, though, and with total safety: slice them, pack them in a large mason jar, weigh them down with a boiled rock or a smaller jar full of water, and then fill the big jar with a salt solution anywhere between 3 and 5 percent salt (30-50 grams per liter is the easiest way to measure that). You can add aromatics (garlic, spices like coriander, etc) if you like. Make sure all the peppers are submerged in the liquid, then put the jar in your basement or somewhere about 55˚F for a few weeks. Once they’ve soured to your taste, you can move them to the fridge to slow the fermentation and enjoy them until they’re gone. I have all sorts of peppers and other vegetables I put up this way last fall, and they’re all going strong.

    And once the peppers are gone, the spicy brine is sheer genius in a million other situations: mayonnaise, vinaigrettes, gravies, marinades. I like to take various hot peppers at the end of the summer, pack them in a 2-gallon jar, fill it with local cider, and let it ferment into vinegar. After 6-8 months, I strain the liquid (spicy vinegar!) and purée the rest into a thick hot sauce. Just add salt and it’s amazing. No pressure cooker required.

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