Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

Most of you should go to bed and try to be better Jackals in the morning.

Bark louder, little dog.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

The willow is too close to the house.

He really is that stupid.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

To the privileged, equality seems like oppression.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

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

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

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Sunday Morning Garden Chat: California Spring-ing

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Tea Tree - Ruby Glow

From California correspondent Scout 211:

In Northern California, it’s spring! We had a very wet period at the end of last year, but it has been mostly warm and sunny this January and February. We are starting to see spring blooms appear when what we really need is more cool, rainy days. Fire season is right around the corner and we are all dreading more late summer “public safety power shutoffs.”

Here are some pics of our early blooming plants. Pic at the top is one of our Tea Tree bushes. I believe this one is a New Zealand Tee Tree (Ruby Glow), Leptospermum Scoparium.

Pic #2 is one of our Lavender plants (just starting to bloom). I think this is Spanish or French Lavender. Lavendula stoechas.

Lavender

Pic #3 is one of our many Rosemary bushes. This one is Creeping Rosemary. Rosmarinus officinalus ‘Prostratus’.
Creeping Rosemary

Pic #4 is one of our other Rosemary varieties, Tuscan Blue Rosemary. Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Tuscan Blue’.

Rosemary 'Tuscan Blue'

It’s not only pretty, but bees love all of our Rosemary bushes. This one is also edible.

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What’s going on in your garden (planning), this week?

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COVID-19 Coronavirus Update – Saturday/Sunday, 2/29-3/1

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Excellent advice:


I’m no virology expert, but I am someone with anxiety issues. I do this update once a day so that I, and you guys, don’t obsess over possibilities for the other 23 hours a day. If I see a tweet or a story that seems significant, I consciously set it aside, on the reasonable theory that either it’ll still be significant the next morning or else I’ve saved everybody another unnecessary adrenaline spike. There’s a lot of stuff to worry about these days; we need to pace ourselves.

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Wheels Keep Turning

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I’m enjoying the heck out of the Biden win in SC. Based on current reporting, it seems to piss on a bunch of narratives. Like, “young black voters are VT Jesus’ base”. Nope, Joe won those. And, “turnout will be boosted because Bern is in the race”. Doesn’t seem to be happening in this reality. 

To me though, it’s amazing that Warren is not at least the close second. It makes no sense. She’s got the right combo of smarts with policies that means she’d be effective. Yet, no.  It’d be great if we dealt with misogyny & misogynoir on the left. Plus understood that pundits no longer report – they infect the left with doubt and elevate the loudest yet least effective voices in the room. Volume is not effectiveness. I am not a Warren supporter, for full disclosure. But I’m also not going to ignore a big, nasty elephant in the room.  We’re supposed to be better, more reasonable. Yet here we are. I won’t even remotely antagonize a Warren supporter for the disappointment they may feel right now. But I will say, there’s 1900+ delegates to be earned. We don’t know who will get them yet. Support who you think meets the criteria. Support the nom in the general. And get those downballot races worked out too. That’s where the real power is hiding. In honor of women running for office, here’s some  music to regroup to. There’s still a ton of delegates out there. Open thread for night owls. I’m going to try to get some sleep or something like it.

 

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Recipe Exchange: Let’s Talk Bread

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Recipe Exchange: Let's Talk Bread

Since Watergirl brought it up and it beats talking politics tonight. Let’s talk bread.  I have a favorite, fool-proof recipe (click here) that I make often. You can do it as a regular rise or do it as a slow-rise overnight in the refrigerator.

I used to use a single-sourced flour (grown and milled locally) but they enriched their flour. I switched to King Arthur’s unenriched flours a while ago. Their unbleached and bread flour work very well.

Recipe Exchange: Let's Talk Bread 1

JeffreyW introduced me to the King Arther bun recipe and it is probably the best hamburger roll recipe I’ve ever used, and again, close to fool-proof. I made some changes to the recipe and you can see that here.  Mostly I reduced the sugar content – by a  lot.

sour dough breads

And finally, a friend gave me some sourdough starter and a really good recipe (click here). It’s a bit more labor-intensive, but if you love sourdough, it’s a good recipe.

I had pretty much given up on bread baking at high-altitude until I bought my KitchenAid – it has changed the game for me. It does a perfect knead and my bread no longer comes out like a rock. ETA: Along with weighing my flour and water.

I know many of you have favorite bread recipes and techniques – so I thought it would be fun to share here.

To anyone who wants to begin making their own bread, go with simple and easy recipes to begin. Trust me there are tons of videos on YouTube telling you how to do it “perfectly.” Don’t let that intimidate you. Start simple…work your way up to competition level later.

Now, let’s talk about bread, baby…

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Open Thread: In the Face of A Global Pandemic, Where Is ‘Our’ Secretary of State?

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Speaking of former Secretaries of State…

Open Thread: In the Face of A Global Pandemic, Where Is ‘Our’ Secretary of State?Post + Comments (126)