I love to cook, but I don’t usually bake — it requires too much precision. But I made some blueberry scones today that turned out pretty well:
I used a recipe from Epicurious, modified slightly to account for the dearth of Meyer lemons (had to use regular instead).
My kiddo is on a road trip, which makes me nervous as hell. So I’m cooking and baking up a storm as if that will keep the forces of evil luck at bay. It doesn’t make any sense, but it’s that or Xanax.
Next on the menu: fish tacos. What are you up to?
dmsilev
Also cooking. My boss is hosting a picnic dinner for the whole group and I got tasked with dessert. So, chocolate soufflé is just about done; in an hour or so, I’ll make the flavored whipped cream that tops it.
Elizabelle
Not cooking, but I am hungry. Blueberries. Chocolate. Mmmmmm.
Karmus
Cooking as well. Simple stuff; cornbread, field peas, mashed potatoes and a broccoli salad from the grocery store deli. Actually, other than the cornbread, it’s all more reheating than cooking, but it’s only I and I try to be pretty easygoing with myself.
jeffreyw
Beef roasts in the crockpot for Italian beef sammiches, with some reserved for beef and veggies pie.
Scones look great! Mrs J asks when I am getting her a nice butter dish like yours.
redshirt
Not traveling!
I’ve morphed into a road warrior over the last month and I don’t like it.
That said, I strangely enjoy staying in hotels.
Villago Delenda Est
Ummmm….scones!
dogwood
I don’t like baking because I hate following the recipes as I’m cooking or baking. I’ve committed a few recipes to memory and don’t mind baking those things, but anything else is not pleasurable for me.
James E Powell
My grandmother from Aberdeen rarely made much of her origins or heritage. She was very much in the “we came here to be Americans” way of thinking. There were two exceptions: “Scotch is whiskey” and “Those are na’ scones.” Both declarations preceded by that throat noise that everyone raised north of the Tweed makes to indicate disdain.
JPL
Betty, The scones look great..
raven
Simmering butterbeans for the lady, they are expensive and hard to come by this year. Besides that just roasting a chicken on the grill, slicing up home grown maters and baking sweet and regular spuds.
Schlemazel
I made a lentil and rice dish to put up for lunches this week. Have not baked in weeks, since I made those citrus cakes I posted about. Need to get back to them but I need to chase the black dog off first.
raven
We are lucky to have this German fellow baking at Comerian Bread, his scones are awesome.
redshirt
Great scones, Mom.
raven
A new bread loaf is rising in Athens. Over the last year, local bakers have been experimenting with heirloom wheat and ancient grains, creating new favorites from forgotten grains of the past.
rikyrah
The scones look good.
Phylllis
Taco soup in the crockpot, soon to be served over tortilla chips with shredded cheese and sour cream.
Aimai
I made scones pretty much every week for years–they were my go to for potlucks, pta, and brunches. Ive made them with butter, with cream, or with sour cream. Ive made apricot, dried cherry, blueberry, lemon peel, and ginger. I miss those days!
schrodinger's cat
Are you serving tea with the scones?
p.a.
No cooking. Colonoscopy tues, so easing into tomorrow’s prep by eating light today. Scones look yummy.
raven
@p.a.: Low fiber!!! I go in 2 weeks and then hernia surgery the next week. I think I’ll call the colonoscopy dude this week and see if there is any issue with them being so close together.
eclare
I went to the movies to see The Secret Life of Pets. Pro-tip: unless you are going to see the latest Jason Bourne movie, never go to the movies on the opening weekend of a Jason Bourne movie.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Major Major Major Major
Warcraft, Vietnamese, re-upping the anti-flea defenses, dinner with friends.
My husband had a good quip that I’m gonna start using on Bernie or Busters. “Voting can be a means of personal expression or a way to prevent bad things. Both are legitimate views! But only one prevents bad things.”
I will also leave you with an Emerson quote I found.
PsiFighter37
Another 11 hours of studying in the books this weekend – have a regulatory supervisory exam that I need to pass in 3.5 weeks. The amount of material is mind-boggling, and it’s not stuff I use in my day-to-day job…so I’m a bit nervous (particularly since I haven’t taken a test that meant anything of import in more than 8 years). It’s basically going to have consumed all of my weekends from mid-July to Labor Day…fun.
Going to take it easy into the end of the weekend – just going to read some news, probably sip on a good beer (I think one of the barrel-aged bourbon stouts from Goose Island is ripe for sipping today) and eat a light dinner (thinking a salad).
About 4+ weeks until I will be on vacation…cannot wait…
p.a.
@raven: “Hey doc, while you’re in there…” Maybe we can get a Mayhew post on trends in 2-for-1 procedures.
PsiFighter37
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Being freed from running for reelection means he doesn’t even need to show the pretense of courtesy towards that asshole McConnell. I sure do hope we manage to hold onto his seat in Nevada…for all the talk of his machine being formidable in NV, it sure hasn’t helped Democrats outside of himself…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
We are all Joe Biden now
Has McCain spoken up on his endorsee and the top of his ticket slurring a Gold Star family and my usual twitter/blog suspects just aren’t noticing?
ETA:@PsiFighter37: They do say the hatred Reid and McConnell have for each other is deep and personal. But you’re right about NV, I was looking at some Senate polls yesterday and NV looks like the only Dem seat in jeopardy. (For some reason I feel the need to confess I capitalized “jeopardy”, even though I fixed it.)
raven
@p.a.: Well, I have TWO hernia’s! I’ve tried to get them to do double duty on my dog’s when they are under but the won’t.
WaterGirl
Tonight will be a simple stir fry – with everything coming from my garden except for the onions and the rice.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Making a French-crumb-topped peach pie with the leftover pastry from yesterday’s pluot galette. I’m also making casarecce with homegrown cherry tomatoes (the only kind that will reliably ripen here in foggy San Francisco). Just ate a bit of leftover rosemary bread and lazy stuffed peppers from last night – lazy because I don’t actually stuff them, I just quarter the peppers, lay them in the bottom of the pan, and spread the filling and sauce over them. It tastes the same and satisfies my inner sloth. It’s the first weekend in months I’ve had nothing scheduled, and I’m enjoying cooking because I want to and not because I have to.
WaterGirl
@raven: “Hey, I’ve got the most hernias!” might just be a contest that no one wants to win. :-)
Ruckus
@raven:
Doc wanted me to do the scope thing while waiting for the hernia op. Told him I’m not having someone thread a camera up my colon while part of it is just basically hanging out where it doesn’t belong. He thought about that and agreed with me.
WaterGirl
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: Hey, that’s how I make my “stuffed” peppers, too! Though I also put big chunks of peppers on top, too. That way, it’s easier to pretend they are actually stuffed.
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: That’s a good thought; you are a wise man.
Schlemazel
@p.a.:
I am probably going to have to have my bladder resected & will need to have the pelvis/hip rebuilt. It sure would be nice to only have to go through surgery once instead of twice but that would take a lot of coordination with doc.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
Facts not in evidence.
Elmo
I’m with Redshirt – finally looking forward to the prospect of being home for two solid weeks after a month of travel. Charlotte, El Paso, Dallas, Louisville since July 8.
We took in an emergency foster this afternoon, so the house is in an uproar and there is noise and chaos. I am going on a solid week of nasty indigestion and raw acid stomach. It’s miserably hot and humid. But none of that matters because I am not packing or checking in for my morning flight. Bliss.
Ruckus
@Schlemazel:
And quite possibly the docs would be having to work at cross purposes or be in each others way. Bet they won’t do it.
Renie
Has anyone or know anyone who has traveled to Cuba yet? Know anything aboutR these educational trips?
redshirt
@Elmo: I have to travel tomorrow early AM. But I got to be home today!
Enjoy your time off the road!
Pouring one out for Ultraviolet Thunder, who no doubt is traveling.
Schlemazel
@Ruckus:
I would assume they would open me for the hip part, which is easily 14-16 inches, do that then go & the urologist would dive in & close when done. Timing & the time under become key but given the risk of anesthesia it might be worth asking about
raven
@Ruckus: And think of the billing nightmare!
SciNY
I am both encouraged and scared by the Khan family’s bravery, Trump’s cruel & evil reaction, and the broad spectrum of responses to these. On the one hand, it’s clear that Trump crossed a line with many (former?) Republicans who recognize Trump as a total repudiation of core American values. However he’s still getting cover from Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and other Vichy Republicans. My fear is that, regardless of Trump’s defeat in November, the genie is out of the bottle, in that we have crossed a line of what is acceptable racism, misogyny, and xenophobia that we thought was behind us. If Trump were re-packaged into a hard-right candidate who was more adept at dogwhistles, I can easily see the GOP soiling themselves with orgiastic ecstasy. We are at the edge of a precipice, looking down into the abyss. And while everyone will suffer if (while) evil rules the day, those who are not “real Americans” by virtue of birth, religion, skin tone, gender, or sexual orientation are going to bear the brunt of any Trump 2.0 who gains power and transgresses our fragile democratic norms. Hoping someone will talk me down from this pessimism and maybe paranoia, but right now we are relying on some awfully thin threads to keep our fabric together.
Baud
@Schlemazel:
This thread.
HinTN
@PsiFighter37: ‘Tis but next Friday that we hie us hence to the Hotlantic ocean for a week of books and bobbing in the waves. Also, fresh fish and such. Vacations be good.
ETA: Break a leg
amygdala
Just ate a big pile of berries (blue, straw, black, rasp) and a couple of peaches. Fall’s my favorite season and summer I can take or leave. But on the left coast, summer at least means great berries and stone fruits.
Made a big pan of blondies yesterday morning for a party I was invited to last night. Which turned out to be fun, even though my ideal Saturday night usually involves a book and maybe a cup of tea.
Have you tried making cream scones, Betty? Really easy.
Ruckus
@Elmo:
I don’t miss a job I had for 11 yrs. Traveled almost 8 months a year. Did get to see a lot of the country. Even some of the good parts.
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: I beg to differ!
HinTN
@redshirt: Prosecco here, on the veranda enjoying birdsong and breeze.
Major Major Major Major
@SciNY: That may happen. And it may not! But right now, there is a battle to win. The better we do this election, the longer we have for the fascists to tire themselves out or die off.
To quote a wise man, “don’t boo. Organize.”
WaterGirl
@Schlemazel: My mom taught us this: They can’t say yes unless you ask. It has served me well in many circumstances.
M31
made some jalapeno cheddar scones yesterday, and they were excellent, especially where the cheese leaked out and crisp-fried itself on the baking sheet, mmmm
aimai
@Major Major Major Major:
Wonderful!
redshirt
@HinTN: My bird feeders got trashed by a bear last week so I have to keep the seed away for several weeks now in order to keep the bear away and I’m pissed – the ingrate birds have completely disappeared! I feed them for years and I go a week without seed and they are gone.
No more bird songs for me. :(
Ruckus
@SciNY:
Mostly agree with you but think there is more. Of course the people who will suffer the most are the people who have been suffering the most. But keeping this on the back burner hasn’t helped a whole lot, maybe it has to be brought out into the open where enough more people can see it. Those sane republicans that everyone talks about for example. Maybe we have to go through this to get to the other side, as horrible as that sounds. I’m not suggesting that we do have to go through it, maybe enough people can see without it. But I’m doubtful.
Elmo
@Ruckus: That part i like. I’ve been to Alaska and Hawaii via this job, and my next trip is to Portland, where I’ve never been. I go to Chicago enough that the hotel staff recognizes me (I love Chicago). I get to eat amazing meals and drink very good wine when I’m on the road, all on the company dime.
But the flip side is that mostly I go to places like El Paso, Phoenix, and Louisville. Not much call for me in the Tetons, or my beloved Sierra, or the Caribbean.
Mike in NC
Too lazy to bake, so I load up on scones any time I pass a Trader Joe’s.
Elie
Hubby and I spent the afternoon weeding and clipping down spent flowers on our rose bushes. We have about 5 bags of biomass for converting to mulch… hot work but it was a beautiful day and it needed to be done. Are going for a walk and later I will water and enjoy some pork chops on the grill with corn and asparagus. Have a nice water melon to cut into also… All in all, a good day….
Baud
@Major Major Major Major:
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
Yes but I have the evidence right in front of me. Perspective can be everything.
aimai
@amygdala: I make these cream scones, or rather the one from The Breakfast Book by Marian Cunningham, all the time. I even travel with the dried mixture (since you don’t need anything but cream and vanilla once you get to your destination). They are fantastic if you are heading to a vacation rental and you want to have home cooked scones for breakfast. I pack the dried fruit (dried cherries or dried apricots) seperately so they don’t get flour stuck in the cracks. I also add cardamom or nutmeg. They are heavenly. Once you get used to cream scones you never want to go back.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
Ha!
I learned it as the answer is always no unless you ask. Same concept, different direction.
Elie
@redshirt:
Yeah, I had to stop seed feeders cause we got RATS… I went, Uh-uh — no. That is my limit. I DO miss em– particularly the Goldfinch but I couldnt do rat thing….
rikyrah
Ferret Head had 6 deferments.
4 student
2 medical
redshirt
@Elie: Rats?! Like big rodents? What were they doing? Eating on the ground beneath the feeders?
Did you also have squirrels? Or just rats?
Elmo
@redshirt: Sorry about your birds!
When I lived in the Sierra I had a bear break into my Jeep while it was parked in my driveway. A tube of toothpaste had fallen out of a grocery bag and I hadn’t noticed.
The bear tore the tailgate literally in half, across the horizontal. Only the fiberglass front, tho, so he didn’t get in that way. He then punched in a window.
The toothpaste, tho, was in a hard plastic pump. Tooth marks all over it but it didn’t break. So he didn’t end up getting the toothpaste after all.
The town used to give out stickers for dumpsters to warn people not to throw out food – the stickers said “Not A Bear Proof Container.” So I got one and put it on the Jeep.
rikyrah
@amygdala:
Sounds delicious.
Jeffro
We are all about the cold salads here, so I whipped up some
– carrot & raisin salad (vanilla yogurt, cinnamon, nutmeg)
– pasta salad w/ salami & mozzarella (tons of veggie, lime, mint)
And then made seafood gumbo for dinner – omg so good!
I’m not much of a baker though so if y’all could bring some scones to the next NoVA meet up, that would be awesome =)
Baud
@Elmo: A bear couldn’t get onto a toothpaste tube? I’m impressed.
Elie
@redshirt:
Yes, rats eating under the feeders. But the feeders are near the house and I didn’t want to deal with seeing them or having them find a way in.
FlyingToaster
I made WarriorGirl’s dinner and then turned the kitchen over to HerrDoktor. I’ll get it back in a few hours and make a batch of her lunch pasta for the week. Which will be her second week at Museum of Science Camp. I waited until I thought she was old enough to cope, and it’s been a rampant success. Next year I can add the Aquarium :)
We got a little bit of rain on Friday and today, but I’ll still plan on minor yard work for tomorrow, and cleaning the bathrooms on Tuesday. Droughts suck.
Elmo
@Baud: Mentadent FTW!
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I love Bisquick. It makes baking easy–so easy that even I can do it. I make blueberry scones, using the shortcake recipe on the box.
Ruckus
@Elmo:
Yeah that’s the part I didn’t like, most of the places were not what you’d call luscious destinations. But some were and going there on the company dime is nice. Of course at one point the company told us that the food expense while on the road was $12/day. This was in this century. Told my boss that this was enough to bring me to understand going postal. He understood and agreed with me. So I just ignored the guidelines and no one ever said a word.
scav
@WaterGirl: Moreover, I didn’t know it had become a mixed-species team sport.
dmsilev
@Elmo: Shouldn’t you have also gotten a ‘Bear-proof container’ sticker for the tube of toothpaste?
gogol's wife
@SciNY:
I understand how you feel. Can’t really talk you down, but I have to deal with thinking about Trump right now and not looking ahead to what kind of s–t might be coming down the pike after him.
We have had dark times in this country before and we’ve come through them in a better place.
Elmo
@Ruckus: Twelve whole dollars? American?
Ha! My boss would laugh at me if I ordered a glass of wine that cheap! “Don’t get the house cab, what’s the matter with you?” is something he actually said to me on our first trip together.
Elmo
@dmsilev: They were big stickers, like bumper sticker size! Anyway, I told the town bear control officer to look for the bear with the minty-fresh breath.
gogol's wife
In responding to bupalos on the thread below this one, I realized that the reason Trump has made the “gaffe” that the Russians are not in Ukraine yet is because that is the official Putin line — those aren’t Russians, they’re Ukrainian freedom fighters. Trump is more schooled on the Putin version of events than on the official US/Europe/NATO version.
raven
@WaterGirl: Well, I actually have 3 but the umbilical can stay. I was fine until I went to the surgeon, asymptomatic. As soon as I went to him they started giving me “issues”.
MomSense
@Elmo:
My son and his girlfriend were camping in the White Mountains in NH and a bear tried to break into their car. They found dirt, paw prints, and scratches on the doors. Yikes.
Fair Economist
@Schlemazel:
Oh my, that’s rough. Hope it works out.
? Martin
So ⅓ of Trump voters believe that Clinton is aligned with Lucifer. Another ⅓ aren’t sure.
Vichy Republicans need to be reminded what they have done.
raven
@MomSense: I almost got blown off a ridge there in the summer of 71!
redshirt
@Elie: I don’t blame you.
Are you in the city or the suburbs or country?
R-Jud
15 for dinner here in the Poconos. We’re about to grill some London broils and shrimp. Cucumber salad, garlic bread, couscous on the side, followed by homemade raspberry ice cream for dessert. It’s nice to be home.
Kristine
Those scones look good.
Dinner was tortellini with roasted veg, chopped fresh basil, olive oil, and grated parm. Served it with an Italian red that didn’t even have a year. Just “Italian red wine.” It was good.
Elmo
@MomSense: Yikes indeed. I also had one try to pull the plywood enclosure off the back porch of the rental house i lived in, because there was trash back there. Hence the enclosure, that’s where trash was supposed to go until collection, but the bear was determined to get in. Of course this is at two in the morning, and my dogs went apeshit banana nuts. There was a little family, mama and two cubs, who lived so nearby that the cubs routinely chased each other up and down the tree outside my bedroom.
Major Major Major Major
@? Martin: Didn’t a bunch of them think Obama was the Antichrist?
Ruckus
@Elmo:
When I first started working there we could put our bar tab on the company card. There were times when buying a round for the house was normal.
I actually worked for a for profit subsidiary corp who shared offices and paid for office services with the parent corp, a non profit. The VP of finance for the parent was convinced that she controlled everything and set all policies. She was wrong. But our CEO had to hire a finance person and run our own shop so that things like this didn’t happen. Two yrs after I left the company collapsed, which had nothing to do with me but was brought about by the two completely different companies trying to be run by the parent, who had no idea what was required for the sub.
Mr. Mack
Bush-hogged in this awful heat. All set to eat some raisins (prevents cramping) and a sensible supper…then I inexplicably decided to make chicken piccata.
Mr. Khan (Kahn?) has been on CNN all day according to my wife. Really pounding Trump on this.
redshirt
@raven: I can see the White Mountains as I type this. I assume they’re called the “White” mountains because they keep their snow pack well into spring. I think Mt. Washington had snow until early June this year.
I’ve had a photo project ongoing for 4 years now – I take a picture of the sunset from the same spot. The sun (the earth, actually) moves an amazing amount each day, so the sunset is almost always in a different spot on the mountainous horizon. I’ll put these pictures into a movie one day.
I’ve been doing this long enough that I can point to spots on the horizon for calendar references – there’s winter, there’s spring/fall, there’s summer, there’s Lydia’s birthday, there’s my birthday, etc…
raven
Ya’ll see this crazy motherfucker jump at 25,000 feet without a chute?
Baud
@raven: Nuts.
Major Major Major Major
@raven: Well, that’s my dose of vertigo for the day.
dmsilev
@Major Major Major Major: Hmmm. So, if Obama is Satan, then I guess it is reasonable to assume Hillary is associated with Him; I mean, there’s video of the two of them embracing and everything. Somebody tweet this to Donald Trump!
sukabi
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: meeeooow. Turtle getting taken to the woodshed.
Cat48
The scones look really good, Betty.
Baud
@dmsilev:
Hillary is Lilith.
rikyrah
@PsiFighter37:
Good luck on your studying.
raven
@redshirt: I hitched to NYC, saw the Allman’s and then up to Boston for another show on the Commons. Then I headed up to the Kangamangus Highway and just started walking up on a trail. I know there was a really nice natural waterslide in a creek but I don’t really know where I was. I camped on a tent platform that was down off a ride and, when I packed up in the morning, I walked up and could see the tops of the clouds. An updraft caught me and lifted me and my pack right off the ground. I came down and lay flat thinking “I am gonna die”!
raven
@Major Major Major Major: No kiddin, right?
Redshift
I’ve spent the weekend clearing out my father in law’s assisted living apartment, since after his latest hospital stay, he’s not motivated to do the physical therapy that would allow him to move back there from nursing home care. It’s a bit sad, but on the other hand, he survived sepsis, which has something like a 90℅ mortality rate for people his age, so I can understand him not having the energy to work at getting back his mobility.
Going to dinner at my friend’s who likes to cook tonight. Don’t know what’s on the menu, though.
rikyrah
@SciNY:
I don’t know why people are so upset. These people have always been there.
ALWAYS.
I never believed otherwise. They were hiding behind the dogwhistles. But, there are those of us who pointed that out to folks, and we were poo-pooed.
sukabi
@Ruckus: but it would be just like threading a curtain on a curtain rod…
ThresherK
@redshirt: Where do you live, again?
In much of suburban America (including my part of it) deer, racoons, bears, and turkeys are much more frequent backyard guests than ~20 years ago, and the local gov’ts advise to bring in bird feeders after the winter.
@raven: The easy part. The hard part: Hit a 100′ x 100′ target. Wow.
Elmo
@redshirt: Oh that’s COOL.
I got lost in the Whites (along with five other people) on a hike in 1986. We hiked up Mt Liberty and came down Mt Flume, and it was raining a little bit all day. So by the time we got to the Flume Slide Trail it was very wet and we had to go down either on our butts or facing the mountain like rock climbers instead of hikers. Pitch dark by the time we got to the bottom and we lost the trail. Ended up bushwhacking across country, and two of our guys got swept downstream trying to cross the Pemigewassett River in the dark. Hypothermia, some cracked ribs, and a damaged knee were all we ended up with, but it’s a cautionary tale about college kids picking out a trail from a guidebook with no local experience.
Google “Flume Slide Trail” and every site nowadays will warn sternly against doing what we did, because the trail is dangerous to go down even when dry. When wet, it’s lunacy.
Oops.
redshirt
@raven: You’ve lived an amazing life!
I had to run down Mt. Jefferson in a lightning storm. Doesn’t compare.
amygdala
@aimai: I have a biscuit recipe somewhere that uses cream and self-rising (rather than all-purpose) flour. I’ve been meaning to toss in a bit of sugar and some currants or something and seeing if it’ll work as scones.
raven
I think this is it! Franconia Falls
Yay, I always remembered “Franconia” but when we went back there a few years back all I could find was the ski lift at the notch and I know I didn’t go up there. There was no interstate in those days.
raven
@redshirt: Sounds to me like it does. We were almost to the peak of Mount Quandry in the Rockies when a storm blew in and the lightning chased us down!
? Martin
@Major Major Major Major: Yeah, but I didn’t think the % was that high. Maybe it was.
redshirt
@ThresherK: On a mountain in western Maine, about 30 miles due east from Mt. Washington as the crow flies.
I’m surprised this was my first bear event. I never saw him/her, but I can’t imagine any other animal doing this kind of damage. I’ve found bear scat out in the woods but no sightings.
redshirt
@raven: Yeah, lightning while on top of a mountain is a particularly scary thing. It’s so close!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@raven: Yup, local story here.
raven
@redshirt: I’m thinking South Twin Mountain after looking at the pics on Google Maps.
raven
@redshirt: And it will run when it hits.
Schlemazel
@dmsilev:
great catch! Thanks, I will for sure steal that.
debbie
@rikyrah:
Wow! Makes Cheney look like a piker!
debbie
@amygdala:
This is the time of year I pig out on fruit. Now, it’s raspberries, blueberries, and peaches. When the blueberries start going downhill, it’ll be all about blueberry crisp. But now, when the fruit’s at peak, it would be shameful not to eat them straight.
Ruckus
@sukabi:
We have like minds. I was thinking as I was saying no – ever ripped the lining out of a curtain putting in the rod?
JPL
@R-Jud: Enjoy! The discussions should be interesting, to say the least.
Kathleen
I’m coming to every one of your houses for dinner tonight, and I’m bringing Tupperware for carry out.
Mike J
The scone recipe I use is too fiddly. I ought to try that one if it’s easy.
Went to the store and it turns out that if you have a paper copy of your new driver’s license AND have your expired license with you, there are certain stores in Washington state that can not serve you., They were able to point me to another store two blocks away that didn’t care as much as they didn’t have cameras monitoring the transactions. I just didn’t care for the other store as much, since I picked my first store on how friendly and knowledgeable the staff are. I wound up with cheaper but lower quality produce. Feh.
debbie
@Baud:
Whew. I was picturing Frasier’s Lilith.
Feathers
@Aimai: I have some sort of black thumb with cream scones (and biscuits). Don’t know why, I can reliably bake fairly complicated stuff, but this one simple recipe throws me somehow. The recipe I use is from Jane the Yarnstorm blogger’s “The Gentle Art of Domesticity.” They are “Luxury Scones” and use an egg. You can tell the difference between British and American baking because it calls for one cup of flour and makes nine scones!
I am trying to get back to cooking. Things have been hard and I’ve been eating mostly out of boxes for the last few months. I’m cleaning out the fridge, making a list, and placing an order for delivery. I figure all that work, I shouldn’t have to go to the store, too.
Ruviana
@Mike J: They card you for produce? That’s intense!
JPL
@Mike J: Maybe you should carry the long form of your birth certificate with you.
Schlemazel
@Feathers:
That seems a bit low on flour. I believe mine calls for 2 1/2 cups and makes 12 scones. If they are not turning out maybe you should try adding another half cup of flour & see if you get better results
Steve in the ATL
@MomSense:
Not married…so separate tents, right?
raven
@Steve in the ATL: She doesn’t have to outrun the bear!!!
Major Major Major Major
@? Martin: Here’s one:
And, mind you, this is Americans, not Republicans.
redshirt
@Ruviana: Psst. Want some tomatoes? I got super fresh tomatoes out in my van. Cheap. Total discretion.
Stella B.
I haven’t decided what to make for dinner, but it will contain tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes. Many, many tomatoes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: Being that your study is of the population in general and Martin’s was Trump voters, seems to be about the same percentage.
Schlemazel
@Major Major Major Major:
assuming an even divide between R and D the number that are sure he is the antichrist is about 27% of the Rs . . .
Mike J
@? Martin:
Also in that poll, 2% of the people who support her believe it..
Steve in the ATL
@redshirt:
Hell yes it is. Happened to me and a friend on top of Lion’s Head mountain (next to Vail). The lightning hit a nearby tree and his curly hair went straight out. We then hopped on our portable lightning rides and started riding down the mountain, but had to stop for a bear in the road. He didn’t look friendly, but also looked too fat to head uphill to get us. Good times!
OldDave
@Schlemazel: I was about to say the same thing – there’s that magic 27% again.
redshirt
@Steve in the ATL: What’s a “lightning ride”?
Schlemazel
@Mike J:
I wonder if some people said yes just to be funny. Seems like the sort of thing I would do/
“Yes, Yes, Hillary is evil incarnate, daughter of Beelzebub, minion of the dark lard . . . OF COURSE I AM VOTING FOR HER! She is still better than Drumpf!”
Major Major Major Major
@?BillinGlendaleCA: D’s have a registration edge, but yeah, in that ballpark.
@Schlemazel: There’s that number again.
ThresherK
@raven: I’ve been there, at a wildlife refuge in near-suburbia. My wife (older, slower, shorter and lamer than I) and several families (kids of varying ages), and in an adjacent underbrush we could see three cubs and a mama bear.
The moral calculus kicks in: Should the worst threaten to happen, I could outrun 90% of these people, but who does that? How many strangers’ little kids do I need to carry with me, saving my lives and theirs, before I’m not some craven jagoff?
raven
@ThresherK: So you charged the bear?
Ruckus
@ThresherK:
What if the bear wanted a bigger meal? Would the bear try to grab more than one of the slower folk or go after the biggest meal? Bears can run damn fast.
Steve in the ATL
@redshirt: Meant to type “portable lightning rod”–bicycle
Schlemazel
had some time before dinner so I dug out my scone recipe. I have ~ 250 cookbooks, most came from my mom & many are from the 50s & 60s though most are much newer. One thing I learned early that still pisses me off today is many cookbooks, particularly the ego projects, have recipes that suck. The use the wrong amount of something or bad technique so that no matter what you do you can’t be successful. The authors either never tried or are intentionally setting you up for failure. I learned you had to play with a recipe if it didn’t work. It is very frustrating particularly for a novice. Mom was a huge help but without her I would have given up
8oz self-raising flour
1-1/2oz sugar
4oz butter at room temperature
2oz fruit
1 egg, beaten
3-4 tbsp buttermilk – put a dash of vinegar in regular milk, you are looking for the acid component here.
salt
redshirt
@Steve in the ATL: Dang! I was hoping there was some kind of anti-lightning technology available to mountain climbers.
ThresherK
@Ruckus: I’m not the biggest meal. I was sorta hoping it would go for the easiest (plus tenderest, sweetest) ones. I imagine I’m a bit old, tough, low on marbling, and gamy–much more the braising type rather than the carpaccio sort.
@raven: Heh. I was just contingency planning if someone else decided to get too close to the wildlife.
raven
@redshirt: There is, unass the mountain!
raven
@ThresherK: Always good to plan ahead!
Ruckus
@ThresherK:
Some of your excuse changes if you had picked up kids. They are supposed to be young and tender, and you would become a bigger meal on the hoof, not that I have any experience in these matters. Plus how do you know that everyone else would run in the same direction? You might end up easiest to get to, what with the extra load and all.
Brachiator
@SciNY:
The genie was out of the bottle as soon as Obama was elected. Hard core racists went into denial, rejecting Obama’s legitimacy and creating fantasies that he was plotting against real patriotic white people. These people are now anxious to embrace Trump as their Great White Hope.
And look. There are already vile charges that Hillary cares more about black people than her own race.
The racists don’t care about seeing things improve for everyone. They’re for White People First, not America First, or more accurately, they see America as fundamentally for whites, with others provided for at their discretion.
redshirt
Bears are big scaredy mammals. They don’t want to eat you.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
They need to relax. They’re two tents.
(Very old, very stupid joke that made me laugh back in junior high.)
Brachiator
@Major Major Major Major:
This is great.
SiubhanDuinne
O/T: You know, I don’t generally mind when I’m thrown into moderation. I can usually figure out pretty quickly what caused it — too many links, or an ugly naked link, or one of the many forbidden words, or referring to a formerly-active-now-banned commenter — and I either go back in and fix it right away, or wait patiently for some kind FP to release me.
But I don’t understand what causes comments to simply up and vanish. I know I’m not the only one. Something must be triggering it; we all just haven’t yet figured out what it is. It happened a few minutes ago; I should have taken my own advice and typed the comment on a note pad so I could copy-paste if necessary.
Now, of course, I can’t even remember what my disappeared comment was about. But it was a good one, I will tell you, the best, believe me.
Keith P.
I noticed the Le Creuset in the back. I must confess that I have dropped over $500 on the stuff myself, but I’m wondering – is it worth it? The stuff cleans well, and the cobalt blue (my color) looks great, but are the cheaper enameled cast iron versions any good?
WaterGirl
@Elmo: I like your boss!
WaterGirl
@raven: Hernias in collusion with surgeons. That hardly seems fair!
WaterGirl
@Kristine:
Well that sounds interesting! I”m assuming cheese tortellini. What vegetables did you use?
WaterGirl
@raven: Holy fuck, batman!
justawriter
I have started making lunches and freezing about two months worth on weekends and nuking them at my remote work site. Right now I have alfredo lasagna with spinach, red lasagna with hot italian sausage and bierocks (runza) in the freezer. I add a squirt of sriracha ketchup in with the bierock filling and it tastes like a cabbage roll in a bun.
geg6
Salmon, rice, cucumber and tomato salad and green beans. All veggies from the garden. I am committing a major faux pas tonight by drinking the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon my sister opened but never drank on Saturday.. Waste not, wan not!
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: Help me with the math. 100 minus 73 = ?
SciNY
@Brachiator: Trump defines a new extreme for acceptable politics in this country. Defeating him at the polls in November is my top priority, which is why I’m giving & canvassing in PA the next three months. Still, even with a landslide, I think we will continue to see bolder expressions of bigotry and sexism (and maybe even violence encouraged by Trump himself) afterwards. Trump is but one of the fruits of the poisonous tree of nativism, bigotry, and misogyny that the GOP has been watering and fertilizing for decades.
redshirt
@SiubhanDuinne: You probably said a banned users name somehow.
The only way BJ can ban abusive posters is to ban their user names. Which is fine if they’re specific, but if they’re not? Then everytime the banned word is used, the post will disappear.
NotMax
Send in the scones
There ought to be scones
No One You Know
Braised lamb in a sauce of preserved lemons, sundried tomatoes, spinach, whole garlic, and chickpeas, with cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, and black pepper over couscous. I’m feeling my inner Moroccan!
J R in WV
I made up a quick easy dessert, lemon pound cake mis from the store, and a small pack of red raspberries. Mix the lemon pound cake recipe, and smear a thin layer in a pie pan. Then cover that with evenly spaced berries, then cover the berries with the other 3/4 of the cake mix.
Bake according to directions. I usually add some fresh lemon juice to the batter. The red berries make it so much better.
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: Sounds very yummy! There aren’t many desserts that can’t be made better by the addition of raspberries. I like to add them to my chocolate decadence cake. It makes the cake so moist and bursting with flavor. Raspberry lovers unite.
aimai
@Schlemazel: That strikes me as a weird recipe. The warm butter and the egg will make it tough. Try an all cream scone or a butter/buttermilk scone and keep the butter cold, this will create lamination in the dough and make the scone flaky and tender.
Feathers
@Schlemazel: Sorry, what I meant was that the portions, AKA each individual scone, is about half the size of the scones in my American cookbooks. The recipe itself turns out great. I like that it is a small recipe, because I am often the only one eating them!@Schlemazel: Ha! That is very close to the recipe I use! I’m not going to look it up, but the cup of flour, egg, and soft butter are all there.
@aimai: This is my go to scone recipe as well (or a first cousin). The secret is that they have to be eaten while hot, or at least warm from the oven. At this point, the texture is quite lovely, with a richness from the egg. Once they have completely cooled they are not as good. I usually don’t find this a problem, as the recipe makes a small batch, they are incredibly tasty and get eaten right away, or tossed if it is only me and they aren’t eaten right away.
If I’m not making for immediate consumption, I use the recipe in the America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. The great thing about these is that once you roll them out, you can either hold them in the refrigerator overnight, or freeze them and then bake directly from frozen. They also have an incredibly complicated Blueberry Scone recipe, which seems like it would realistically take more than I day. I do want to try it one day.
PurpleGirl
@raven: Sometimes they will. When I had the S1-L5 herniation fixed, the neurosurgeon also chipped out some spine to handle the concurrent spinal stenosis. I think he did it because the two problems were so close together. He’d would have to enter my back at the same spot and he probably didn’t want to do that,
PurpleGirl
@Ruckus: Back in 1990 when I was a paralegal, I made a number of trips and expenses were moderate. Then there was the Electric Purchased Power Contract arbitration and as we wanted to conduct it under Arizona law the case management consultants my firm hired booked us into The Wigwam Resort. It had 3 golf courses, two pools, several restaurants. It had begun life as private resort for upper level executives of Goodyear(?) Rubber back in the 1920s. Very, very posh and expensive. Several of the other paralegal teams were extremely envious when I got back home and they saw my pictures.
Bitter Scribe
[drools]
No comment, just [drools]