Looks like we cold could use an open thread.
I just put some bread in the oven. It’s not my best effort ever; it’s too cold for it to want to rise well and I couldn’t let it rise in a sort-of warm oven because I had broccoli quiche in the oven.
There’s an old saying about pizza. “Even the worst pizza I ever had was still pretty good.” So that’s gonna be my approach to the bread tonight. Warm bread, how bad can it be? That’s how I feel about Italian food, too. If I’m in a strange town without a recommendation of where to eat, I always pick Italian. Even if it’s not great, it probably won’t be terrible.
What’s everybody else up to this evening? (I made the mistake of going to one of the Wordle clone sites where you can do a bunch of them in a row.)
My deep thought today was to wonder WHERE IS MR. FROG?
Baking anything interesting? Cooking something interesting? Thinking about anything interesting?
Update: this isn’t a dedicated fundraising thread, but I’m gonna add the thermometer anyway. We just finished the concurrent angel match and we are starting angel match #7, with all the usual rules. You might already be all donated out, but if you donate, please add it in the comments here or in the previous fundraising thread.
Look for the thermometer to jump to $19,000 when RaflW adds his $1,000 match.
$19,000! Not too shabby for the first 36 hours. (Even if we did have a head start of $3,000.) Great work, everybody!
Four Directions
MICHIGAN!
I’ll add a photo of the bread when it comes out of the oven.
Open thread.
JaySinWa
A “cold use” open thread to chill in?
ETA I had a bad rise in my last loaf of bread. Really gummy at the bottom. I turned it into bread pudding this morning. Better than letting it rot because it was so moist and damp. Not bad bread pudding though.
Mike in NC
We have some rough weather coming this way. Possibly to include freezing rain. Today we were out in the wind and cold, temperatures high 40s, yet I lost count of the people walking around in shorts and flip flops.
Betsy
Aaargh. After two years of avoiding Covid I learned today of my exposure – my coworker tested positive yesterday. We were in a meeting together for an hour and a half two days before. Sitting next to each other. Both masked and fully vaxed, me boosted — don’t know about her booster status.
I feel bad for her because I know she was trying hard to keep Covid out of her household, with a 3-month-old baby.
Waiting game for me. Must test on Monday (holiday), so I guess it’ll be Tuesday.
I’ve been adamant about not wanting any Covid. NO Covid. We don’t know what that shit does to your organs. Well, actually we know a lot about what it does to organs — not good, even for tiny mild cases. Something about EAC cell membranes or some thing. Technical language eludes me. Anyway, I don’t want ANY Covid just like I don’t want ANY polio.
I’m so mad that I might’ve done anything to poke a hole in my personal zero-tolerance policy about this shit.
I mean, I barely even wanted to take this job or any job, but I just couldn’t stay completely out of the workforce any longer.
By the way — those six people on the Supreme Court? They’re a bag of salt addicts. (Phonetic)
Betsy
@Mike in NC: Sounds like North Carolina.
Benw
Baked potatoes and ravioli with spicy sauce for dinner. By which I mean 2 kids ate potatoes and 1 at ravioli haha. Fresh bread sounds good
ETA: phone says 12 degress, and the high was 14 today while. brought the ourdoor Xmas decorations in and walked the doggo, so warm fresh bread of any kinds sounds good!
Ken
Is there an English word for when someone points out something is missing and you become upset, even though just ten seconds before you had completely forgotten the thing existed?
LongHairedWeirdo
Some people were interested in seeing this – it’s been knocking around my head for two days and I think I’ve got it worded how I want it.
There’s something really crazy going on in America right now. There are really important things that should be discussed, things I think are obvious, and yet, it never gets mentioned. So I wrote this to show you, the reader, what I mean – and I hope we start discussing these things.
Oh: allow me to introduce myself. I’m some weirdo you met on the internet, assuming you read this on the internet. This is a time when proper names don’t matter, and truer names do – truer names like “good person”, you see?
We’re in a deadly global pandemic. If someone says that’s a matter of opinion, well, it’s the opinion of every prudent, competent, professional qualified to talk about these things. As for deadly, yeah, over 800 thousand Americans have died, and, yes, from Covid-19.
There’s a lot of grief out there; the disease can be terrible, and, of course, can kill; there’s stress on the health care system; and yeah, there’s stress among the populace. And there’s this question that hasn’t really been explored, at least not in public.
What would a good, person do, when faced with a deadly global pandemic? Well… I’m not here to go into specifics, because that’s a trap. People will argue over the specifics. Instead, let me line up a bit of a process.
A good person facing a deadly global pandemic will want to be informed, and want to formulate a plan. You need a plan; you can’t ignore the suffering and death, and you don’t want to fumble around, either. So, you want a plan, right? That plan will vary – for ordinary folks, it means following public health measures, even when it’s inconvenient, because they are reducing suffering and death… pretty easy, right? But some people are in positions of authority, and they need plans for both their personal behavior, and for helping reduce suffering and death in general.
Before we go further, there are many ways to be a “good” person, but here, I’m talking about people who will do all they reasonably can, to save lives and reduce suffering, when they have the opportunity. After all, what’s “good” about a person who blows off suffering and death? Or just makes half-hearted attempts to help? So here, a “good” person tries to do the right thing, out of kindness, compassion, love, religious beliefs, or whatever drives them to do right.
Okay, so, like, this is good leader 101, right? A good person who is a public servant, in the face of a deadly global pandemic, will make plans to save lives and reduce suffering. And such a person will gladly show their work, and explain how and why they came up with that plan. That way, others can study it, and possibly help improve it.
What do I mean “show their work”? Well – a plan for dealing with a deadly global pandemic is going to have costs, and benefits, and resources aren’t unlimited, so we have to balance costs to try to save the most lives, and alleviate the most suffering, that we reasonably can. Once a plan is laid out, people can offer suggestions or point out things a the planner didn’t think of. (Admittedly, people can also whine bitterly about how they don’t like some parts of the plan – but whining hurts morale, and helps no one., and that means wasted energy – which can translate into additional suffering and death. Please try not to amplify whining.)
Anyway, good people are glad to help formulate better plans, because, you know, suffering, death, why we call them good… and they also need to optimize costs – “costs” being those limited resources we mentioned earlier. Costs do include economic costs, but one thing about the pandemic debate frustrates the heck out of me. Lots of people, that I disagree with, claim to be devout Christians. That means their Lord counseled them that you can’t serve two masters. You can’t follow God (essentially, be a good person who loves a neighbor as much as themself), and also follow mammon – call that “wealth” or “greed”.
That’s a wise precept, isn’t it? Money tempts so many people to do the wrong thing – love it too much, and whoo, is it easy to decide to do some truly awful stuff, because it turns a profit. And that same man, who warned of the dangers of greed and selfishness, he also counseled his followers to love others as he had loved them… and he put down his life for them.
I don’t see any way that Jesus would be okay with someone nickel and diming a response to a deadly global pandemic. Sounds to me he’d be more likely to say “you have limited resources, but use all you reasonably can, to save all the lives you reasonably can, and to reduce all this misery as much as you can”. And that situation, when you’re hitting limits, it hurts. It hurts like the very blazes. Sometimes, it’s just not possible to do all you wish you could. That’s another reason to show your work, right? And out in public? That way, someone else might see how you can do more, with the same resources, and not to obsess, but YAY! fewer deaths, less suffering. (Okay, I did obsess, but in a good cause.)
Anyway, I think any good person would agree that a response to a deadly global pandemic shouldn’t go cheap, but it seems to me that Christians should be motivated by the teachings of their Lord, in addition to their good qualities, like kindness, compassion, and such.
Where was I? Oh, yeah, good people, plans, continuously refining those plans to meet conditions on the ground, all this to save lives, and alleviate suffering. Obviously, good people might disagree on how to best combat a deadly global pandemic, but they’ll all agree, it should be all hands on deck, save as many lives, eliminate as much pain, as they reasonably can. I hate to hammer a point home, but… that’s why we call them good, right?
You know what’s really harmful to the plans of good people? Misinformation and lies. If we were all pulling on the same team, and we were all good people, we’d all be trying to stomp out misinformation and lies wouldn’t we? Especially when some of those lies can get people killed, and extend the pandemic; more cases, more suffering, more deaths?
You see where I’m going with this, right? I mean, why aren’t we pushing back, good and hard, against people who just aren’t that eager to save lives and reduce suffering?
Look: I need to use a nasty word, like “asshole”. And let’s face it, sometimes, when someone says you were an asshole, you really were, right? But that doesn’t mean you’re always an asshole, through and through, in all aspects of your life. It means you were thoughtless, or made a mistake, or whatever.
If a nasty word applies to a person, in one situation, it doesn’t say they’re horrible people, right? It just means, wow, if that word was accurate, they’d really want to think about the choices they’ve been making, right? I’m not here to accuse anyone (well, not directly) – each person knows in their heart if they really are doing all they can to reduce needless suffering and death; and only they can effect a change in their hearts. Me insulting them wouldn’t help! That said, yes, you probably know the sorts of people I’m talking about, and you probably have a *very good* idea of my opinions of them.
So what’s the word? What do you call people, who aren’t horrified by mass suffering, and hundreds of thousands of deaths? What do you call people who think, oh, maybe they’ll help, if it’s not too inconvenient? Or someone who could do more, and save lives, and reduce suffering, but, it would harm their future political prospects? (What kind of public servant lets people die AND does it for personal benefit AND still thinks that they deserve to be elected to office ever again?)
What kind of person would forego measures that can save lives and reduce suffering, and be so arrogant they don’t feel they need to show any work, any reasoning, to explain why even more people have to suffer, and die? What kind of person would just claim, based on their opinion, that their way is better, it just is, because they said so, and sits back, letting those preventable deaths, that avoidable suffering, happen?
What kind of person lets tens of millions of people suffer a virus that can be brutal, and watches deaths climb steadily, to over 800 thousand, and still not realize it’s a big deal? What kind of people wouldn’t be furious if anyone tried to downplay that many deaths?
What kind of person would take a noble, and sacred word, “freedom,” and use that to excuse indifference to human suffering?
I promise you, I have sought through my vocabulary, for a word that describes a person who cares so little for the lives and suffering of others that they make only a half-hearted attempt, or no attempt at all, to fight a deadly global pandemic.
Who’s okay with extra deaths, extra suffering, when lives can easily be saved, and suffering averted, with reasonable costs? Who doesn’t do all they can to stomp out lies that could get people killed?
The best answer I can come up with is, “a monster.” And if you’re going to say that’s too strong, well, what is your threshold? If blowing off 800 thousand dead Americans isn’t monstrous enough for you, what is? I’m listening – I try to be a good person, and I’m wise enough to know there are times to listen. Just don’t feed me complaints about how you don’t like what I said. Show me a flaw – not hard feelings – and tell me: what’s a better word?
And remember: I did not insult anyone, because insulting them might close their hearts and minds.I laid out why I feel like I do, and, I’m sure we agree, I laid it out in excruciating detail.
I want people to think. Do they agree with my reasoning? Do they see a flaw? Do they define “good” differently? How?
I want people to *feel*. I want them to think of 800 thousand people-shaped holes in the lives of our fellow Americans: family, friends, neighbors, and all those millions of friends they ain’t met up with yet.
800 thousand people’s worth of “we always meant to have a nice long visit together, and it just didn’t seem urgent, and now I can’t even go to the funeral!”
800 thousand people’s worth of moms and dads who might have been saved, to watch their children grow up; or marry; or have grandkids; and 800 thousand people’s worth of children orphaned too early.
800 thousand people’s worth of learning, and loving, and playing, and being; of fighting, and yelling, and screaming; of gaining wisdom, and making up, all gone, or won’t happen.
A full 800 thousand people’s worth of every pain, every loss, every special time missed.
Just think of this – I say this with no hesitation or shame – MONSTROUS amount of grief.
That deserves to be part of the planning, right? So much to save lives, so much to reduce suffering; how much, because life is truly precious, and its premature ending is truly tragic?
And finally, I want people to decide if they are living up to their own self image. Do they think they’re good? If so – have they truly done all they reasonably could to help us all weather a deadly global pandemic?
Monster. Think about it. And remember, people can change. They can realize they’re thinking like a monster, or worse, acting like one. People can take harsh criticism, digest it, and realize they’d rather be on the side of life, and health. Perhaps we good folks will get all “goody goody” and suggest they’re on the side of love, and happiness – but not if they ask us not to be so cheesy about it. (I told you we were good!)
No one has to be a monster. It’s a choice. Please, choose differently.
Betsy
@watergirl: Looks like we could use some Open Bread.
{I’ll show myself out}
ps It’s gorgeous.
WaterGirl
@Betsy: Oh Betsy, so sorry to hear that. I hope you get lucky.
I have been super careful, too, and I know I would be really distressed to be in that position after being SO CAREFUL. Please keep us in the loop.
oldgold
@LongHairedWeirdo:
Could you please expatiate on your comment.
WaterGirl
@Benw: I was trying to figure out the ravioli and baked potatoes combo, and then I finished reading the sentence. Spicy ravioli sounds good. Do you make your own or is there a good brand? Or are these from take-out?
WaterGirl
@Ken: “Balloon Juice” ?
dmsilev
I’ve got bread baking on the schedule for first thing tomorrow morning. Dough is rising now; I’ll divide and shape in a couple of hours and then proof it in the fridge overnight.
WaterGirl
@oldgold: I used to work for a fellow who would say “why say a word when a paragraph will do”.
UncleEbeneezer
Got some crowlers of local, craft beer and just placed an order for sushi which we will eat after our snowshoeing adventure. Hopefully we don’t freeze to death. Wanted to get ramen but that is only for dining-in so that is a no-go for us. Beautiful here in Mammoth as there’s lots of snow on the mountains.
zhena gogolia
@LongHairedWeirdo: can’t argue with anything you said
Steeplejack
@Ken:
Waldorage?
cope
My wife made chocolate peanut butter chip cookies this morning and I made slow cooker pork tenderloin tacos for our big meal of the day. Tomorrow’s meal will be lemon chicken orzo and salad. That won’t happen until after I immerse myself in Liverpool’s morning match. We’re supposed to get a good dose of morning rain and that pretty much covers our weekend.
Raven
If I had more time I would have written a shorter letter.
cope
@Raven: K
SiubhanDuinne
Let’s just say it. We’re fucking awesome!
Anon
Re: Michigan
Our gov has excellent approval rating and a massive budget surplus (one article called it “off the charts”). Her likely opponent is the former Police Chief of Detroit who went full-on Trumper. I see an easy reelect.
WaterGirl
@Betsy: I’m sure I’m breaking all the rules, but I make twisty bread out of almost any recipe. I find that the bread bakes faster and the outside doesn’t have to get so brown in order for the inside to get to the right temperature. Plus it’s fun to pull apart.
I make a bunch of small twisties and then freeze all but one as soon as they cool. Then I pull them out of the freezer and it tastes just like fresh bread, and they are small enough that I can eat it before they get old.
Baud
@Anon:
Wow. I hope so. Glad to see success getting rewarded with good poll numbers.
Suzanne
It’s 16 degrees right now. I spent much of today going to the grocery store. Actually went once myself and then took SuzMom later in the afternoon. I did a hot yoga class and got my hair cut and it was all in all a very nice day. Had a bit of a mishap with a refillable Starbucks cup. Now about to go do a ride on my Peloton, which was a birthday gift. I am embarrassed to say that I love the thing.
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: Curious, do you do free-form rounds, or do you bake in a bread pan? Or in a fancy round artisan pan?
Mike E
@Mike in NC: Basically eight years to the day and I’m thinking we’re about to re-live that little ice storm, or, hopefully not. That was the weather event that taught me to park on the high side of my apartment lot… minutes after relocating my car a half dozen of my neighbors slid into where my van would have been, one of them needed a 20′ chain to get pulled out of my usual spot, wheee.
WaterGirl
@cope: I was thinking “I hate you” in my head as I read your first sentence, but I have already forgiven you. Sounds great.
WaterGirl
@Raven: I don’t remember who first said that, but I love that every time I see it.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: We are fucking awesome.
debbie
@Anon:
I like Gretchen. How about the SoS?
WaterGirl
@Baud: The first time I heard Big Gretch speak was when she was stumping for Biden (and herself) just days before the election in 2020.
She was such a great speaker, and she has that certain something, aka charisma and the french phrase I don’t know how to spell. Love her.
mrmoshpotato
Thinking beef ravioli with vodka sauce for dinner. Gotta go on a Target run first – for booze (for me, not the sauce).
MagdaInBlack
I made chili, took a nap, and now I’m listening to BigHead Todd and reading my blogs. Peaceful day, as intended.
debbie
@WaterGirl:
je ne sais quoi?
Benw
@WaterGirl: yeah, fun food combo! We use the Whole Foods store brand for both ricotta spinach ravioli and their spicy arrabiatta sauce. The Whole Foods stuff is pretty good!
Gin & Tonic
@Raven: Bingo!
Baud
@debbie:
Yeah, I don’t know either.
Betsy
@WaterGirl: Thanks. Nice to hear your kind words.
I’ll definitely be complaining soon enough if there’s a reason.
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: Free-form rounds. Shape them into balls, let them rise overnight, then bake (in a Dutch oven for this recipe) tomorrow morning.
Recipe link
SiubhanDuinne
@Suzanne:
You can’t just leave us dangling like that. Details, please. ALL the details.
mrmoshpotato
@cope:
Did you shred the pork? Will tenderloin even shred?
Gin & Tonic
Looking like a bad night in store for the Patriots.
Steeplejack
I’m taking it easy this evening, husbanding my energy to make a grocery run tomorrow morning, ahead of the messy storm that’s supposed to hit NoVA in the afternoon. Snow, rain, sleet—a mess going into Monday, supposedly ending in 1–5" of snow. I’ve got enough provisions to skimp through the next few days, but I’m missing some “treats” and would like to have more options. Should have gone yesterday or today, but all this week I have been fighting extremely low energy and inertia.
Steeplejack
@debbie:
I don’t know either.
@Baud: Damn it!
SiubhanDuinne
@Ken:
TBPH, I think I’d prefer a German portmanteau, and — though I have no idea what that word is — I have no doubt whatsoever that such a word exists.
WaterGirl
@debbie: Yes!
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud: ???
SiubhanDuinne
Also @Steeplejack:
????
WaterGirl
@Benw:
Spicy arrabiatta sauce is the only red pasta sauce worth eating!
Except for Fra Diavolo, which also is spicy pasta sauce, but apparently the origin is different. ?♀️
Glidwrith
Made cherry chocolate bread last week and challah bread the week before. Finally mastered a four strand braid. I want to make more bread tomorrow (family already devoured what I made), but haven’t decided on flavors. Might make a British school pudding flavored with honey, lemon and crystallized ginger with a custard poured over it.
Raven
@Gin & Tonic: Freezin the balls off a brass monkey!
WaterGirl
@Betsy: It’s never too soon to start complaining. :-)
JAFD
Have been living the hermit life the past couple of weeks. Must put on N95 mask tomorrow morn, get milk, fruit, prescripts.
Local news for my city: _NEWARK, NJ — Newark officials are recommending that senior apartment buildings in the city create a strict visitation policy amid the coronavirus crisis. And that can include checking for vaccine proof, Mayor Ras Baraka says.
On Tuesday, Baraka issued a message to local seniors on social media.
According to the mayor, the city recently sent a letter to owners and managers of local senior buildings. Baraka said the letter recommends – “and recommends only” – that they create an official visitation policy for their buildings.
“We are recommending that there is a strenuous policy around visitation,” Baraka said. “And we are recommending that when people come into those buildings, that they are in fact, vaccinated.”
Baraka left the door open as to what that might mean – and whether there could be exemptions – saying that building managers should create a policy, “even if they require folks to come in who have a negative test.”_
Glad I acquired bread machine over summer, very useful in this situations. Here be recipe for ‘daily bread’ of late, should you be interested, makes dense 2 lb loaf, tasty:
1/4 cup oil (usually corn oil, put in first in hope it’ll keep paddle from sticking to shaft)
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups liquid (water, sour milk, pasta water, eggs …)
1 cup old-fashioned oats
3 cups flour (bread or whole wheat)
1 cup raisins
Stay healthy and happy, everyone !
RaflW
I baked the spelt-potato burger buns I talked about somewhere on here yesterday. I’ve made three or four batches since I came across the recipe (sub white spelt for bread flour), and it kicks butt every time. Sooo good! And the BF just goes crazy. He can’t eat regular wheat, so if I don’t bake, he has to have commercial gluten free rolls. (His issue is actually fodmap, but GF is an acceptable workaround, even if the taste and texture isn’t ideal).
He gave me a stand mixer for my birthday early in the pandemic, and it’s been a fine tool to assist my relatively novice breadmaking.
One recipe I’m really searching for is a Swedish bread called Limpa. It’s a rye with a bit of orange oil (which I have) and Mörk sirap, and that’s one of the tricky bits. It’s a long shot, but if anyone has a source or a good substitute I’m all ears. Molasses (well, blackstrap because that’s what the co.op had) was too intense.
WaterGirl
@Glidwrith: I do a 3-stand braid when I want to be fancy. I read the instructions for the 4-strand and decided it didn’t need to be that fancy just for me.
Cherry chocolate bread? Recipe, please.
Spanky
Mr. Frog is in deep slumber at the bottom of Cole’s frozen pond, so don’t disturb him. Cole is supposed to get a bunch of wet snow like we did 2 weeks ago, and Mr. Frog is safest where he is. You better hope Cole’s power doesn’t go out for three days in this weather like ours did.
WaterGirl
@RaflW: ooh, ooh, I see that the thermometer just jumped!
So exciting! $19,145! Thank you so much for being an angel!
WaterGirl
@Spanky: Mrs. Cole is the one who takes the Mr. Frog photos and sends them to John. Surely they have a plan for Mr. Frog during the winter.
I will have to ask Cole.
Jay
Day off, so sleep, good beer, rest, catching up on reading.
Bacon butty for brunch, maybe a burger for supper.
Then more sleep. Tomorrow, maybe some coffee and look at fixing the car.
Another Scott
The bread looks great, WG.
ObOpenThread – An excellent thread by my rep on what Gov Northam was able to accomplish in Virginia. Youngkin is going to do his best to wreck it.
Cheers,
Scott.
Benw
@WaterGirl: I’m not against a sweet tomato plus basil sauce but I am baby. We make a spicy kale diavolo lasagne by cooking extra garlic and red pepper flakes into a marinara sauce. I had no idea that there was already a spicy Fra Diavolo sauce!
Baud
@Another Scott:
Everything I’ve heard about what the Dems did in VA sounded great. Too bad people couldn’t stay enthused.
Gin & Tonic
@Raven: So much for a Belichick vs Brady SB.
James E Powell
@Anon:
How’s the legislature looking?
mrmoshpotato
Brrrr! Go Bills!
WaterGirl
@Benw: I just sent you a picture.
Steeplejack
@RaflW:
Two sources for the real thing:
Dan Sukker mörk syrup from Al Johnson.
Light and dark syrups from Amazon. (Two-pack of dark syrup also available.)
This site has a substitute recipe using brown cane sugar.
cthulhu
I put in $100 yesterday around 8:48pm PST
Another Scott
@Baud: A great deal was accomplished in 4 (really 2) years. Terry Mac left a great foundation for Ralph, and Terry Mac had big plans.
But, …
(sigh)
Ralph wasn’t my favorite, but he did well.
Every election matters, every time.
Cheers,
Scott.
HumboldtBlue
Cats, man
H.E.Wolf
Your bread loaves are spectacular!
Kristine Pennington
Found an antique cast iron chicken fryer at a local antique store here in the Denver metro area – so tomorrow it is buttermilk fried chicken and gravy for dinner….btw those skillets are NOT cheap – if you happen to be the owner of one, cherish it!!
WaterGirl
@cthulhu: Thanks! I’ll count that toward the current one since i didn’t know at the time.
H.E.Wolf
This won’t work for every palate (or food sensitivity), but I substitute honey for half the molasses in recipes when I’m using blackstrap.
geg6
Made maple syrup glazed salmon, rice pilaf and some gorgeous asparagus for dinner tonight. Since I expect to be snowed in tomorrow, I’m going with my favorite comfort food, spaghetti and meatballs. Picked up some nice ground sirloin and locally made sweet Italian sausage for the meatballs and we have some crushed San Marzanos from our garden last summer for the sauce. That sauce will make the house smell delicious as it cooks, which is the coziest thing I can think of in the midst of a major storm. They are calling for 6-11 inches starting from tomorrow at 1pm and ending 1pm Monday. Already informed the boss I’ll be WFH on Monday.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Another Scott:
Every election for the rest our lives will be the most important election of our lives.
Benw
@WaterGirl: got it, YO
WaterGirl
@H.E.Wolf: Why thank you!
As you can see, I don’t fuss about making them be the perfect, I kind of like that they are all a little bit different. Food, it’s art! :-)
Mary G
@RaflW: Heya!! My Swedish grandma used half dark molasses and half dark corn syrup. There were more spices I don’t remember plus caraway seeds.
I’ve been out of bed for a whole hour or so. There is almost no Pedialyte or Gatorade available on Instacart for miles around here. I still have enough to get through to my pulmonary doctor appointment on Monday.
MagdaInBlack
@Kristine Pennington: I’m happy to say I have 6 cast iron skillets of various sizes. 4 were handed down, 2 I picked up in antique/junk stores in the U.P. for a couple bucks each.
Eta: I first learned to make pancakes in those handed down skillets.
WaterGirl
@H.E.Wolf: My best friend does that even with regular molasses. Too strong a taste for her.
dnfree
Even when the goal is reached, some people, including me, have monthly contributions that will keep increasing the total until the election this fall.
geg6
@WaterGirl:
Our frogs hibernate somewhere in or around our koi pond through the winter. We have a heater in there for the fish and the frogs benefit. I hate the frogs, though. They are so loud in the summer that they sometimes keep me up at night.
WaterGirl
Heading to bed now, super early.
I am going to get up at 5:45 tomorrow morning so I can leave for the grocery store by 6am.
This is my first trip to the store since before Christmas. I have been trying to avoid even the grocery store because of Omicron, but I am out of milk and eggs and all sorts of staples. I have to go to two stores because neither one carries all the things I regularly get.
It’s really nice so see that $19,145 in the thermometer to the right. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed, and thank you to those who aren’t in a position to donate at the moment but who are still so encouraging in the fundraising threads.
Now all I need is for Amir to show up. Goodnight everybody!
P.S. And the BJ angels! There is no way we would be at $19,000 without you!
Kristine Pennington
@MagdaInBlack: wow – I’m jealous. My grandma never used anything but cast iron on their farm in Pfeifer Kansas back in the 30’s….her cooking always tasted divine. And we got the added benefit of iron and minerals…. ?
cope
@mrmoshpotato: Chunked it, seasoned it, slow cooked it 3 hours with chicken broth and then it shredded just fine. I did add some mushrooms and sautéed onion and sweetened it with a squirt of tomato paste.
geg6
@MagdaInBlack:
I love my cast iron! I have 3 skillets, a fryer, a Dutch oven and a grill pan. I use them just as often as I use my other pans ( which are All-Clad and pretty awesome themselves).
Benw
Interesting to me as a vegetarian that both Chipotle and Burger King are running ads during NFL playoffs for their meat substitute options: the plant-based chorizo and the ultimate burger, respectively.
featheredsprite
@Raven: Hey Raven! How ya doin?
Jeffro
@Another Scott: VA Dems and school divisions and teachers have been going ballistic on social media about Youngkin’s EOs…it’s good, I like the energy and quick turnaround here. (He’s also hosting a maskless superspreader event tonight, fwiw)
He may well be a good example for the nation – state elections as well as national – about what happens when you elect a smilin’ face and a fleece vest, then get screwed by the usual rabid GQP agenda.
Btw the game plan here in VA is pretty clear: use Lt Gov Sears to do the media appearances to the crazy base, use AG Miyares to try and inflict as much damage as possible on the ‘enemies’ of GQP orthodoxy (especially legal groups and school divisions) and keep Youngkin above it all, hoping that no one notices he’s in charge.
Jeffro
@Another Scott: agreed – it was a rare example of what Dems can do when they hold the ‘trifecta’ and are willing to USE that power to make folks’ lives better.
stacib
@Kristine Pennington: I don’t know what’s considered antique, but the cast iron I use is the same my grandmother used / had long before I was born, so it’s well over 60 years old. I was telling a friend the other day, neither of my kids appreciate cast iron, and could probably care less to “inherit” six good pieces.
MagdaInBlack
@geg6: They are pretty much all I use. I love home made biscuits baked in them.
Rooting thru the cupboard just now i realized I also have a 10″ round griddle with a handle. That’s probably what the pancakes were made on.
Jay
@geg6:
only have the two cast iron fry pans, my grandmother’s via my mom, for everything else we have Saladmasters.
emrys
@Mary G: you can make pedialyte pretty cheaply. Just do an online search for the recipe.
Fair Economist
I made a braised vegetable medley from Deborah Madison with onions, thyme, garlic, baby mixed potatoes, rainbow carrots, green beans, rainbow cherry tomatoes, orange bell pepper, and summer squash. Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes, then layer everything else, put on a lid, and cook on medium for 30 minutes or so. Some black eyed peas on top for extra protein. Very pretty with a tasty pan sauce but next time I’m putting in the green beans later because they were overcooked. Completely edible but less pretty.
CaseyL
Tonight a friend and I went to the Wild Lanterns show at Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle). The weather was not too cold, but there was fog, which made the cold damp, which can eat into you. I was fine except for my feet, where the Bog clogs (with socks) were less insulated than I thought they’d be. (I have a pair of Bog boots which are toastier even though the material is thinner, go figure.)
The show was **gorgeous**. The lanterns were sculptures – painted fabric over metal armatures – of flowers, butterflies, bees, animals (including dinosaurs! feathered dinosaurs! and dragons!) lit internally. Absolutely beautifully done. Works of art. Much, much more to it than I’m listing here.
A truly magical experience, with the only drawback that my feet were soon freezing. It should be noted that the fog added to the ambience, giving everything a mystical overlay. I’m going to try to find out more about the creators, because it had to be an enormous undertaking.
If you live in Seattle, or anywhere near Seattle, you need to go see this.
Jay
@stacib:
anything over 50 is “antique”,
the key thing with cast iron is heat modulation, so if you don’t cook, just microwave pizza pockets, you don’t get it.
Used to have a Wagner Dutch Oven in the camp kit, ( road camping), lost it in a flood. That and a wood fire you could do 5 star cooking in the rough.
Glidwrith
@WaterGirl: I don’t have it written down, but the base is Paul Hollywood British Bake-Off recipe, but only 300 grams of dried (not fresh) cherries. And only dark chocolate for us. And 350 ml water, because no liquid comes from the cherries. Tablespoon of yeast. Used a bread hook for kneading, hot water in pan during the bake to keep the crust soft. Alternative is to spray the bread with a water bottle when hot out of the oven and watch it steam.
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: My parents had a shore lunch kit which consisted of 2 skillets, various cooking and eating utensils, lard, and eggs, in case no fish were caught.
This was late 1960’s northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan camping and fishing of my childhood. Cranberry Portage, MB and Lac LaRonge, SK.
mali muso
@Jeffro: Feeling so sick and angry. My daughter is supposed to start kindergarten this fall and I just don’t even know where to start. I don’t want her in our super white public school to begin with particularly now that the white supremacy agenda is ascendant. Ugh
Yutsano
@RaflW: I found this after a brief internet scrounge. It’s rather nice that most ethnic foods from Europe can be found online these days. Hope this helps!
Glidwrith
@WaterGirl: Followed your fundraising link, left comment there and here: in for $50
Jay
@MagdaInBlack:
had the “camp box”, copied from my Dad’s, which was copied from my Granddads. White Gas Colman stove and 2 mantle lantern. Spare can of gas. Dutch Oven, two cast iron fry pans, plates, cups, bowls and cutlery for 6. Tablecloth and clips. Spice drawer and kitchen utensils including a whisk.
That, the drybox and cooler, good for a week, with or with out game.
Jay
@mali muso:
what they learn at home and from family interactions is more impactful than the school environment.
Jeffro
@mali muso: hang tough! Not sure which school division you’re in, but most of the bigger ones will be fighting this tooth and nail (among so many other things)
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: Ya, these were day trips out on the lakes. All the other was at base camp, which was an Apache pop up camper. Usually places in with no electricity or running water. Lac La Ronge camping was in an old road construction site on Lake Nemeiben. I was a semi-feral child, I think, and it still shows at times ?
Leslie
Put me down for $25 for the matching fund, and thanks to all the angels!
Jay
@MagdaInBlack:
Woods Canvas Pyramid tent as the base. The smell of waxed canvas still gets me everytime.
Suzanne
@SiubhanDuinne: It was not that interesting a mishap. I couldn’t find my water bottle when I left this morning, so I grabbed a refillable Starbucks cup belonging to SuzMom. I didn’t fill it. Then I thought I lost it, so I bought her a new one. Then I saw a really cute one, so I bought it for myself, because it turned out someone had borrowed mine. Anyway, then I found the one that I thought that I lost, and Mr. Suzanne returned my water bottle, so now we have a goddamn fuckton of those refillable coffee cups and water bottles.
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: I smell that scent and I’m 8 y’s old again. ? That and citronella. My dad had an old bottle in his tackle box. Dear lord I wish I had those lures now, btw. Those cool old carved and painted wooden ones
The canvas sided Shell Lake boat, too. Wooden ribs and frame with a front end like a canoe.
NotMax
@JAFD
Great minds and all that. Cranked out a loaf of oat bread in the super duper bread machine yesterday! Different recipe, but we were on the same wavelength.
Wapiti
In for $100 if we’re still tracking matches.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@UncleEbeneezer: I’m planning on heading up to Lone Pine on Friday.
Glidwrith
@JAFD: I decided to try your recipe modified for those without bread machines. Upped the yeast to 1Tbsp and proofed it until foamy with 1/4 tsp sugar and 1/4 cup water. Used buttermilk and two eggs. Put half of flour with buttermilk in mixer, added proofed yeast to other ingredients in separate bowl, added to mixer and put in rest of flour. Since this is an enriched dough, put it in the fridge overnight. We’ll see in the morning how it turns out.
RaflW
@Wapiti: Thanks! WG announced she was heading to bed several hours ago, but I’m confident tomorrow she’ll sweep up the contributions from after she zonked out. She seems eager (aren’t we all!) to get this wrapped and over to 4G.
It’s pretty amazing.
RaflW
@Yutsano: Thanks! I’ll see what the shipping looks like, but the list price per bottle is definitely better than dickrocket(dot)com (aka Bezo’s place).
Betsy
@WaterGirl: How smart! Attractive bread, too.
WaterGirl
@Glidwrith: thank you!!
WaterGirl
@Leslie: Thank you so much! That’s $150 for Michigan.
WaterGirl
@Wapiti: We are still tracking matches! Thank you. That’s $450 for Michigan.
Glidwrith
@Glidwrith: For anyone wondering about the bread, turned out great! Pulled it out this morning and allowed to rise for an hour. Put it on a floured piece of parchment paper, sliced down the middle and baked 392F for 30 minutes. Very soft crust, moist and less dense than most oat breads.
way2blue
Your bread looks wonderful! (My oven died last month, and it will takes months to replace it—so I broke down & bought a little toaster oven in the meantime for essentials like nachos… )
JustRuss
Nope. When I first moved to this town, one of the charity orgs was selling Papa Johns coupon books for like 20 bucks, and one coupon was good for a free pizza. After I got my pizza I threw the coupon book away, it was that bad. And I’m a cheap bastard wo will happily eat Little Caesars. I’ve heard they started using better ingredients since then, but have not been back.