reminds me a bit of my beagles when they were alive. Stella, the younger, would always try to snuggle up to Sidney. Usually ended up in a play fight with them both mouthing at each other — mostly exaggerated yawns — but both too lazy to get up off their supine positions.
4.
eclare
That is precious!
Watching season one of The Flight Attendant before I plunge into season two, which was just released. It’s pretty good, but I think it’s based on a book, and I bet the book was better at explaining motive.
5.
Emerald
An open thread. Goody. Wanna tell everybody about a MAGICAL nature show I found on Netflix: My Octopus Teacher. Unforgettable. Go forth and watch it.
@Emerald: Agreed. That and “Penguin Town” show facets of South Africa I had never known.
9.
debbie
My ribs hurt in sympathy.
10.
Geminid
@NotMax: Happy Lei Day to you. I bet you are preparing a gourmet Spam dish to celebrate! I read that yesterday they kicked off the holiday weekend on Oahu with the Waikiki Spam Jam.
I met a man who grew up in Hawaii last week. His son and daughter had just moved from Seattle to the neighborhood I was working in. He walked by, we got to talking, and it turned out he was raised in Hawaii. So I asked him about Spam in Hawaii and he told me that when he was growing up just about everything people ate came out of a can, even vegetables. Spam and corned beef were staples. I guess you can be more creative with Spam.
11.
evap
@Emerald: yes, it’s incredible. I will never ever eat octopus again!
Back way long ago, a group of friends used to get together for Sunday football. We’d potluck the food and one friend always brought something Spam based. She had entered some Spam contest and won in a category so she used us to try new things. They were all gross. Think asparagus wrapped in Spam gross.
14.
mrmoshpotato
Scout’s poor back!
15.
Raven
When we packed up for the beach in October Artemis didn’t really get it. Now she’s very disturbed and following us all over!
16.
NeenerNeener
I’m always amazed when I see pictures of adult dogs cuddled up to sleep. My terriers and my Aussies always insisted on separate beds in separate rooms.
@Emerald: My Octopus Teacher is indeed remarkable. I could not help but believe that the filmmaker is somewhere between highly eccentric and mildly crazy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a hell of a film. It’s unique, and probably no one else could have made it.
@Raven: Our Bella has been with us through 5 moves, and quite a number vacations. For moves, she’s not settled until we unpack the couch. Once that’s out, cleared, and she can sit/lay there she’s fine. But any time we’re packing bags, she becomes really anxious.
22.
Benw
Just like the Pete/Badger smoosh but something’s a tiny bit different.
23.
CaseyL
Scout’s expression says it all: why must I endure this??
Y’all may recall I have a trip to Hawaii planned for later this month. We might have to pull the plug on it.
The travel agency hasn’t responded to email for weeks, and if you try calling they let you know that due to “an unprecedented increase in call volume” you could be on hold for 2-3 HOURS. The “unprecedented increase” has been going on for weeks, and I just hope it’s not everyone else in the world trying to cancel their trip before us!
More likely, they’ve just shut down their Customer Service Department altogether. We’ve had multiple friends try to call as “new customers who want to book some travel,” and they get the same recording.
I’ve filled out and submitted an online contact request form, and also haven’t heard anything. I’ve decided to give the travel company an unwarranted benefit of the doubt and see if they respond only during weekdays – though a travel company that isn’t open on weekends strikes me as unlikely, if they were in good shape.
The good news, if there is any, is that we had the no-excuses travel insurance. Though it remains to be seen if the travel agency will honor it. I have a feeling they’re in financial trouble (not surprising, as the last few years have been brutal on the travel business) and intend to hang onto as much money as they can, by hook or by crook.
If ever find Spam in my kitchen you have my 100% permission to cart me off to either the old folks home or the funny farm, whichever is closer.
;)
just about everything people ate came out of a can
Reminded of a scene from an otherwise forgettable TV show about a family transported to an alternate dimension populated by humanoid replicants. When the cabinet doors in an inhabitant’s kitchen are opened, the shelves are shown stocked with can upon can upon can, each identically labeled “FOOD.”
27.
trollhattan
Danish pancake (the one underneath).
28.
lowtechcyclist
@Sure Lurkalot: I’d like that last sentence wiped from my memory banks, thank you. I can only imagine how hideous it was to experience it.
I made “Spam fried rice” for my family once and you’ve never seen such hesitant, omg-this-is-gonna-suck faces turn into eyes-bugging-out-omg-this-rocks faces so quickly. It’s one of their favorites now!
I was fed Spam as a child and hated it, but a friend of mine wrote a book about it, so I’ve been kind of Spam-curious since then.
31.
eclare
@Sure Lurkalot: I have had prosciutto wrapped asparagus, how do you wrap Spam? It’s that bendable?
32.
Geminid
@Jeffro: When I was a kid my Mom would sometimes cook a Spam dish. It was baked slices of Spam topped with pineapple slices and brown sugar, and it was good!
33.
Suzanne
@NotMax: I was thinking about canned food today. We bought a lot in the first months of the pandemic. I’m trying to use it up.
I still like canned tomatoes for soup, though. Usually when I make soup, I’m in a hurry, so I don’t wanna mess around with peeling and chopping. I buy the San Marzano ones that are delicious. Pro tip: the canned tomato products at Costco are great.
They have 10+ varieties now, the most important of which is the one with 50% less fat and 25% less salt. Brings it just into the “nonlethal” range compared to the regular version. =)
But seriously, dicing it up and using it in fried rice is just amazing.
35.
Jeffro
@Geminid: I think we had it that way, too. Probably only once, though, before we went back to the usual plain slabs of it (as my brother was and is a really picky eater).
36.
trollhattan
@Geminid: Guess any recipe calling for salt, you might substitute Spam for salt in a 1:1 ratio and get away with it.
The Hawaiian fondness for the stuff is not just an urban legend and it pops up in various forms. Just nope.
37.
PaulB
As a kid, we would occasionally have fried spam and eggs for breakfast, replacing the usual cold cereal. That was fine and I’d have no objection to eating spam that way again should the occasion arise.
As an adult, though, I’ve just never had the urge to continue the tradition or to get more adventurous with spam. I’m sure I’m missing out but it’s a sacrifice I’m prepared to continue making.
38.
Jay
As a kid in the Maritimes, we had “fennel” on the last day of camping trips. ( Cubs, Scouts, Canoe Club, Family, Backpacking, etc).
It was what was left over of the canned food, stewed and poured over Minute Rice. It always included fried spam.
Did the West Coast Trail, south to north. Planned on 3600 calories a meal, but when we got to the end of the trail, we were still starving after dinner. Found an abandoned can of Spam, hidden in the driftwood, fried it up, couldn’t eat it. So we walked the 15 km into Bamfield, ate a side of fries, onion rings and 3 cheeseburgers each, washed down with a six pack each.
Last time I ever tried Spam, 40 years ago.
39.
Leto
@Raven: she was. She was with us when we left for Italy, then to the UK, and finally back to the US. We had twin Lazy-Boy recliners that she would commandeer. Those were her safe spaces. But we got rid of them about 2 years ago, so her trusty default couch became the new safe spot.
Canned tomatoes, canned beets, canned whole baby potatoes*, canned corn, canned hearts of palm, canned water chestnuts*, some canned carrots*, some canned wax beans* and some canned mushrooms* are all serviceable ingredients in my book. Other canned veggies, not so much. Rule of thumb: if it is green (or supposed to be), bypass the cans.
*rinsed well and drained
41.
eclare
Spam was never a big thing in my home growing up, I don’t think I ever had it. But I had tons of bologna. It’s yummy when barbecued!
42.
eclare
@NotMax: Why would anyone can a potato? They last forever in their natural state.
I have never looked, but I have never seen a canned potato.
The ones labeled canned whole potatoes are pre-cooked.
And with the climate being what it is in Hawaii, fresh potatoes don’t last weeks, let alone forever.
45.
Raven
@eclare: There is nothing stinkier than rotten potatoes.
46.
CarolPW
@eclare: I love bologna sandwiches but felt bad buying it ( some combination of too juvenile/low rent/bad taste/unhealthy). Then I discovered Italian mortadella – it’s just posh bologna so when I need a fix I buy that. It probably has fewer floor sweepings in it too.
47.
NotMax
Haven’t seen it mentioned so want to note the death of comic book artist Neal Adams at age 80.
Irascible is a word and a half to describe him but there’s no denying his influence on revolutionizing comic book art during the 60s and 70s and was a staunch promoter and defender of creators’ rights.
@NotMax: My grandfather raised 11 kids on a public university’s professor salary – they ate a TON of spam. In fact, there’s a family cookbook of spam recipies I’ve got a copy of somewhere. It’s like… an inch thick. They ate a lot of the stuff.
I’ve made 5 or 10 of the recipies over the last decade. They’re surprisingly good, weirdly. And I admit to being a big fan of Spam Musubi, so clearly there’s some kind of use for the stuff.
Can be hit or miss finding it but the Hebrew National bologna is several cuts above the kiddy lunchbox kind.
53.
JanieM
@CaseyL: I just got back from a trip postponed from February. It involved one travel agent who died, extinguishing her one-person agency, and another whom I used to use but who had retired from my local AAA office, which proceeded to ignore me for a week after saying they’d get to my situation “tomorrow.” At that point I decided to take care of it myself.
I spent 2 or 3 hours on hold, all told, with American Airlines and then JetBlue. I got good help from courteous and competent agents (apparently competent: my trip was a success and I avoided all sorts of travel chaos that went on roughly parallel with my trip).
This might have been dumb luck, and having a travel agency to back me up has been helpful to me in the past. On the other hand, I’ve made several international trips on tickets from Expedia and never had a problem. (But those were all pre-covid.)
Given that you’re already involved with a travel agency, this saga isn’t particularly enlightening. My only useful advice is: if you sign up for TrueBlue (JetBlue’s frequent flyer thingie), don’t put a period after your middle initial. The web page will accept the period, then copy it to the reservation page, which WON’T take it. And neither page will let you edit the name field. (TSA blah blah Federal blah blah who the fuck knows.)
My hour+ on hold with JetBlue was to get the middle initial thing straightened out. Otherwise I would have been able to do the whole thing on their website. Sigh.
All that couch, and….that’s where they both wind up????
55.
Scout211
Has anyone started watching Under the Banner of Heaven on Hulu? I loved the book and was wondering if the series is good enough to sign up for Hulu for a couple of months.
56.
debbie
Rep. Jason Crow was just interviewed on NPR and said Nancy had invited GOP members to join the delegation to Kyiv, but no one accepted her invitation. FWIW.
There’s a budget brand of bologna I sometimes see, Bar-S.
Gotta give them props for truth in advertising — it tastes like S.
;)
58.
Geminid
@eclare: The Hawaiian guy I talked to said that there were hardly any fresh vegetables around when he was growing up. There’s not a lot of tillable land there and most of it grew pineapples. He said fresh vegetables are available now, but back then just about all the food came in on ships, in cans. Potatoes too I guess.
59.
JMS
I grew up in Hawaii although haven’t lived there full time for over 30 years (when I left for college). I never ate much spam except for spam musubi, which in my opinion is a platonic ideal for picnics, beach outings or on the go sustenance. Even my pa born and raised husband thinks so. The key is the spam must be sliced thin and fried in a sweetish sauce and the rice must be plain.
60.
eclare
@Scout211: I loved the book too. The series has received positive, but not glowing reviews. I’ll probably watch, but I already have Hulu
Also, worth signing up to Hulu to watch Dopesick with Michael Keaton. Get both series!
From the little I’ve read about it, it’s heavy on Mormon propaganda.
65.
Jeffro
@debbie: to been seen in a photo with Nancy Pelosi is probably the kiss of death in GQP circles
(see also: Chris Christie hugging Barack Obama, etc)
66.
CaseyL
My Mom loves Spam, and cooks it frequently. She soaks it overnight to get some/most of the salt out, and then fries it to crispness around the edges.
I’ve had Spam sushi, and to my shock it was wonderful. I think the chef also soaked it first.
In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had Spam fresh out of the can, or that someone with real cooking smarts hadn’t gotten to first. So my opinion of Spam is higher than, perhaps, it should be
@JanieM: No, we’re not working with JetBlue, but I very much appreciate the advice!
67.
eclare
@NotMax: Oh, good to know. The book was excellent.
68.
Dan B
@Suzanne: Maestri Canned Tomatoes carried by a local import store are 2/3 the price of San Marzano and grown next to San Marzano. They’re great although to my taste Pomi brand sieved, or other types, taste closest to vine ripened – sweet, like a fully ripe tomato. They come in a box with a pull out pour spout.
From the bestselling author of “Into the Wild” and “Into Thin Air”, a riveting account of Taliban-like theocracies in the American heartland controlled by renegade Mormon prophets.
Brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty insist they were commanded to kill by God.
Krakauer’s investigation is a meticulously researched, bone-chilling narrative of polygamy, savage violence and unyielding faith: an incisive, gripping work of non-fiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behaviour.
70.
JanieM
@CaseyL: That bit about the period was for light entertainment.
More seriously, I sympathize with your plight. I know someone who is having difficulties right now with Aer Lingus over a postponed flight, so although I had good luck, there’s no magic in dealing directly with the airlines either. It’s a strange time.
A few days ago we were talking about Carlo’s excellent essays and I was nitpicking about “neoliberalism”. I still think it’s morphed too much to be meaningful, but I heard parts of a rebroadcast of an NPR Throughline episode on Capitalism: What makes us free? this afternoon. Lots and lots about Hyeck and Milton Friedman. It’s a good piece (50+ minutes).
And kinda reinforces my view that if Friedman and Reagan are in one Venn diagram circle, then Clinton and Obama and Biden are in another with only a little overlap. ;-)
True, but it puts the GOP tweets bemoaning only Dems went in a new light.
76.
Dan B
Some Jackal recommended Better Than Bouillion and others swore by it. I found it at our local semi-irganic supermarket. Got Chicken BTB. Added it to steamed Red Potatoes (sliced thin) plus Capers and Sicilian EVO. THEY WERE THE BEST POTATOES EVER! I should try adding garlic but they were soooo good!!!
I have gotten Vegetable and Mushroom BTB. They’re great but the Chicken is a gift of the dogs! I’ve tried to pick up a few for friends but the Chicken BTB has been hovered up, and all the others rearranged by folks searching for that hidden jar.
@mrmoshpotato: Are you in your natural state though?
81.
kalakal
My school used to serve deep fried spam fritters in batter and for a variation deep fried corned beef fritters in batter. Looking back on it one serving was probably a humans fat requirement for a month. As a kid they tasted wonderful, I made some a couple of years back & they were vile, just a mouthfull of hot grease.
English boarding schools were tough :)
82.
Emerald
@Dan B: Costco carries BTB chicken and often beef. There are lots more flavors, including garlic.
I’ve been hankering for manapua for 40 years. No one makes it in Frostbite Falls, and I haven’t been back to Hawaii (lived there from 1977 – 1981).
84.
Sure Lurkalot
@Dan B: Better than Bouillon is a great product. Costco sells big jars at a reasonable price. So many recipes depend on or are made better by using broth.
ETA Emerald beat me!
85.
Dan B
@Scout211: Krakauer being a Seattle area backpacker and climber with porn star looks was a surprise to me as a first tier writer with great sensitivity. I’ve know a few men like that who were what seemed to be effortless overachievers in almost every facet of their lives. One of them had trouble with long term relationships so seemed an unbalanced and flawed human. I hope Krakauer has had a different trajectory.
@Steeplejack: The Cheese Shop in Stuart’s Draft has a least six kinds of bologna, including cloth bologna and ring bologna. People come in tour buses to buy their stuff. Then they probably go on to the Little Debbie’s store to stock up on pastries fresh from the factory.
@Suzanne: I recently learned about canned potatoes. I’ve never tried them but it sounds like they’re good if you understand their limitations.
90.
Dan B
@Sure Lurkalot: I just smeared the Chicken BTB on the hot potatoes, still steaming, and tossed them with a small amount of capers and EVO. No broth, although I did add some BTB to homemade chicken broth. Aaaaah…
With miracle whip….and a big iceberg lettuce leaf.
#childhoodmemories
92.
karen marie
@CarolPW: You should try Boar’s Head beef/pork bologna. It is beautiful. It’s what bologna should be. All beef bologna is terrible. They carry it in the deli at Fry’s/Kroger’s but I hate that store so much at this point, not even the bologna can get me through the door.
@Jeffro: And of course that’s more important than supporting Zelenskyy.
96.
zhena gogolia
@Another Scott: ABSOLUTELY. Yet my students think “neoliberalism” could be replaced by a picture of H. Clinton and Biden in the dictionary. Drives me wild.
@karen marie: That may be our last hope, but we have to work through a few steps first
That is, it isn’t a fraudulent charge, so we can’t dispute it that way. I’m not sure “non-responsiveness” counts, since this particular travel company is notorious (we found out after the fact) for ignoring calls/emails/any attempt at contacting them.
But my aunt had to change her flight herself, and pay out of pocket herself, when the airline made a change that didn’t allow her to arrive on time – and the travel company didn’t respond to her request for assistance at all.
It’s a very established company, been around for decades, and shouldn’t be this…. bad at basic service.
103.
Geminid
@Steeplejack: You can’t lose traveling in the Valley. Millmont Nursery is right around the corner from the Cheese Shop. They have great plant material, but even if you are not buying the parking lot has a beautiful view.
Millmont is a Mennonite outfit so it’s closed on Sundays. They stay open on all secular holidays. I think it is likewise for the Cheese Shop.
After my impromptu field trip through darkest lower Maryland last Tuesday, which left me refreshed and de-stressed, I have decided that I need to get out and about more, even if it’s more or less random. I can always find a good restaurant or something interesting. And I do have a collection of places to go in the DMV.
This Tuesday I’m going to Philadelphia with a friend who has to do an in-person interview at the airport in the afternoon (TSA?) and then a Zoom call with some colleagues. She had me at “road trip,” so I wasn’t really listening. We’re figuring out where to eat lunch ahead of time. Might just go to the Reading Terminal Market and see what’s what.
They’re neck and neck and it sounds like Josh Mandel is on Donald Trump’s mind!
Because it will be humiliating for him if Mandel wins. So fingers crossed! They’re both horrible so you can safely root for Mandel. Either/or. Doesn’t matter.
@debbie: Twitter is saying that endorsement came after his taking the most difficult IQ test evah.
118.
Feathers
I grew up eating Spam as camping food. Fond memories. Tried it as an adult and it wasn’t them same. However, I have had Spam in friend’s home cooking Asian dishes and it seems to work really well in that context.
For the open thread: I am really getting fed up with knitting designers. There are too many with a real contempt for knitters. They’ve completely taken over talking about knitting on social, and don’t seem to realize that they are talking to customers. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to Ravelry to look up a designer who’s complaining about not be paid what they’re worth for their work, and they have a small number of very basic patterns, with terrible pictures. And hardly anyone buying them. Yes, people deserve to get paid for their work. But you are running a solo business. People who open a restaurant are working hard, but is it the customer’s fault if no one is eating there and they close?
Sorry. Too many designer friends to be able to vent like this on the Twitters. They’ll kind of agree with me if I bring it up face to face, but online they don’t have that room.
I early voted Friday- just me and two bds of elections workers and two wingnut voters, man and woman. I asked for a Democratic ballot and the woman whipped her head around to look at me. Heavily made up, like, it had its own texture independent of her face.
My friend and I know Philadelphia pretty well. We used to always hit Old Original Nick’s Roast Beef on 20th Street in South Philly for an Italian beef sandwich and gravy fries, but she is wanting to branch out. (Note: “Nick” for sandwiches in Philadelphia is like “Tony” for pizza in New York.) I said something about “light Italian,” but we haven’t compared notes yet.
125.
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack: Oh, that’s good. I do not know Philadelphia well at all, but thought the Reading Terminal Market was one of the coolest places. Wish we had similar in Virginia (do you know of any?; I know Baltimore used to have an old market, no?)
Lots of good choices there. I can’t remember what I had last time. It was pre-pandemic. I used to drive the Sighthound Hall sighthound up there for checkups and maintenance at a concierge greyhound vet’s place. Kitty has been gone for several years now. The current non-sighthound, chonky boi Chip, is on the January page of this year’s Calendar A.
127.
Geminid
@Feathers:I am reminded of what Bob Kerry said after he dropped out on 1992 and Bill Clinton and Paul Tsongas went on to a two man race for the Presidential nomination. Kerry referred to his career as a pharmicist turned restaurateur. It didn’t matter how good restaurent staff thought an entree was, Kerry said. If the customers said it stank, it stank.
Kerry was being realistic but I think he was being hard on himself. He did OK through the first five primaries. If Kerry could have made it to the middle primaries he might have come out on top. But the media wanted a two man horse race and Kerry was sold short.
Not a pollworker. The GOP Bd of Election worker who was there is AJ and he’s good. I took pollworker training with him last cycle. He hates the voter fraud conspiracy theorists as much as we do. It’s insulting to him – he takes some pride in running elections properly- and they’re a pain in the ass.
130.
JPL
@debbie: If democrats would cross over and vote for her primary opponent, she would not be an issue. just sayin
PBS carried the local debates and at one point had to cut MTG’s mic because she would not shut up. How surprising is that.
I don’t know of any around here. There is a big market around Union Station downtown, but I’ve never been to it. About the closest I get to the luxe shopping experience is an occasional trip to the Wegmans in Fairfax.
The Italian Market in South Philly is also cool, and there are a ton of excellent small bakeries around there. I remember one time my friend needed chestnuts for some special holiday dish, and the guy at the hole-in-the-wall place in the Italian Market said, “What kind?” They had like three or four different kinds!
Appearing on PBS should lose her some cred with the MAGAts.
134.
zhena gogolia
@Kay: I prefer Mandel because he can’t possibly be worse than Vance. No one can.
135.
Feathers
@Geminid: This was two designers going back and forth about how arrogant it was for knitters to bring up how long they’ve been knitting when they say are having trouble with a pattern. “But they could have been knitting garter stitch scarves for 40 years!” “It usually means they are embarrassed about their skill levels and that they have to ask for help.”
No, it means I know what I’m doing an don’t be a condescending shit to me. Sorry. I knit and like knitting content. To often it turns out that it comes from some real assholes.
On the other hand, an expectation of personalized service seems to have become built into the indie knitting model, that we are all a community. It just isn’t sustainable.
136.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
Oh, but he is. Just one example from his Wiki page:
In May 2009, Mandel announced his candidacy for Ohio Treasurer of State via web video.[26] Mandel’s campaign generated controversy in late September 2010 when it ran a TV commercial falsely suggesting that Mandel’s opponent, African-American Kevin Boyce, was a Muslim.[27] The commercial was criticized for playing on anti-Muslim bias,[27] and was ultimately withdrawn by the Mandel campaign.[28][29] However, voters subsequently received a campaign mailing with similar themes. The Mandel campaign said that the Ohio Republican Party was responsible for the mailers, which had already been sent via bulk mail.[30] In October 2010, in response to an Ohio Democratic Party complaint, the Ohio Elections Commission found that Mandel had deceptively depicted Boyce (an African Methodist Episcopal) as a Muslim in the ads.[31][32]
137.
MagdaInBlack
@Kay: Yes, I’m listening to this latest rally, and for this one, sedatives are the drug of choice.
Drunk uncle routine. What Al Capone went thru with investigations is peanuts compared to trumps martyrdom.
138.
JPL
@debbie: Local PBS carries the debates. I should have been clearer, but you are correct. They have no idea how to find the PBS channel???
What Al Capone went thru with investigations is peanuts compared to trumps martyrdom.
May he be proven correct on that. Capone got paroled early; cannot happen with this one.
140.
Geminid
@debbie: Mandel is an awful person, and Vance is a horrible one. But in practical, voting terms, neither one could be much worse than Portman.
Portman might have been a stronger candidate in the general election, though, if he had run and if he could have won the primary. We’ll never know because Portman got out while the getting was good.
So unless Matt Dolan somehow sneaks past the gruesome two-some, Tim Ryan will have a fighter’s chance against a personally awful or horrible opponent.
141.
JPL
@Geminid: Portman comes across as a moderate, even though he doesn’t vote as one.
what’s with the appears to
Even Mediate
Trump Appears to Forget Who He Endorsed Ahead of Ohio Senate GOP Primary: ‘We’ve Endorsed J.P., Right? J.D. Mandel’
142.
laura
@Suzanne: This right here is what you’re looking for: https://www.marthastewart.com/328115/tomato-bread-soup Replace ripe tomatoes for a can of really good tomatoes – I like Cento or Bianco. Warning! I fell in love on a blind date eating this soup for lunch in a crowded restaurant because “victim was last seen with” and if a lunch date fails, and you aren’t murdered, you can salvage the remainder of the day. But, seriously, the soup is That Good, That Satisfying, that worth the risk any time you find yourself with leftover good bread stuff like a ciabatta or such like, some fresh basil and a big can of tomatoes. A scrape of parmesan and a puddle of olive oil and you need to eat in 30 minutes or less.
Portman is getting out because people in his party have become too mean for him. So have most of the citizens of Ohio.
144.
JPL
In GA you have to win by more than 50 percent, or the top two have a runoff.
145.
Geminid
@JPL: I think it will take more time to know, but Trump may be starting to lose it mentally. If he is I think it will be evident by the end of this year.
And a video about why Spam is so popular in Korea (and they sell fancy gift box versions): https://youtu.be/BaeI6H4zZTw
151.
Elizabelle
@Feathers: Thank you! What fun. Will let you know if I ever make any of these recipes!
152.
Geminid
@debbie: I can see why Portman might want to cash in. Retired Senators can make some “real money” if they want to.
I feel a little sorry for DeWine, though. At his age he should just retire. What is he going to accomplish in four more years as Governor?
DeWine reminds me of the adage that a politician is a sick man who gets well by being elected.
153.
Ken
@Kay: You’d think he’d at least remember whose name was on the check. Although, he might then have said he endorsed Thiel.
154.
laura
@Elizabelle: It is seasonless and always right. I reckon, you’ll enjoy it.
155.
Suzanne
@Sure Lurkalot: Honestly, I use the one from Damn Delicious and make a few improvisations depending on mood and what I have on hand. A fun version is to add the little ravioli or tortellini to the crockpot after blending the stuff up and then letting it hang out to cook for another half an hour. I love some heat, so sometimes I add the Trader Joe’s Bomba paste or crushed red pepper.
Mr. Suzanne and I are still mostly WFH. As such, my approach to cooking has shifted a bit. Lots of prepping crockpots at lunchtime for eating at dinner. I distinctly look for meals that my kids like, and also have what I consider a low-input-to-high-output ratio.
I am perfectly happy to make a meal out of an apple with peanut butter, or a piece of Ezekiel bread avocado toast. I am lazy.
156.
Elizabelle
@Feathers: Watched the first video; I like the guy’s narration (and knife skills). Also like that he made three different dishes from pretty much the same basic ingredients, and two different sauces (both looked good).
The woman’s comments are funny. She does warn you need rice, because the Spam is salty.
157.
Elizabelle
The Korean chef: “If somebody asks you what’s in the pancake, just don’t answer them.”
158.
prostratedragon
Scout: “This is what I get for asking Mom for a weighted blanket.”
159.
The Lodger
@NotMax: so did they steal that gag from Repo Man or was it the other way around?
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Ruckus ??
Somebody looks comfortable.
NotMax
(repeating)
Happy Lei Day!
Catatonia
Scout needs an out.
reminds me a bit of my beagles when they were alive. Stella, the younger, would always try to snuggle up to Sidney. Usually ended up in a play fight with them both mouthing at each other — mostly exaggerated yawns — but both too lazy to get up off their supine positions.
eclare
That is precious!
Watching season one of The Flight Attendant before I plunge into season two, which was just released. It’s pretty good, but I think it’s based on a book, and I bet the book was better at explaining motive.
Emerald
An open thread. Goody. Wanna tell everybody about a MAGICAL nature show I found on Netflix: My Octopus Teacher. Unforgettable. Go forth and watch it.
eclare
@Catatonia: Scout needs a safe word.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax: Very nice!
Where’s OO to bring us that Appleton spirit? (He’ll know what I mean.)
cope
@Emerald: Agreed. That and “Penguin Town” show facets of South Africa I had never known.
debbie
My ribs hurt in sympathy.
Geminid
@NotMax: Happy Lei Day to you. I bet you are preparing a gourmet Spam dish to celebrate! I read that yesterday they kicked off the holiday weekend on Oahu with the Waikiki Spam Jam.
I met a man who grew up in Hawaii last week. His son and daughter had just moved from Seattle to the neighborhood I was working in. He walked by, we got to talking, and it turned out he was raised in Hawaii. So I asked him about Spam in Hawaii and he told me that when he was growing up just about everything people ate came out of a can, even vegetables. Spam and corned beef were staples. I guess you can be more creative with Spam.
evap
@Emerald: yes, it’s incredible. I will never ever eat octopus again!
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: Hey! Hey! First of May!
Sure Lurkalot
@Geminid:
You can but…
Back way long ago, a group of friends used to get together for Sunday football. We’d potluck the food and one friend always brought something Spam based. She had entered some Spam contest and won in a category so she used us to try new things. They were all gross. Think asparagus wrapped in Spam gross.
mrmoshpotato
Scout’s poor back!
Raven
When we packed up for the beach in October Artemis didn’t really get it. Now she’s very disturbed and following us all over!
NeenerNeener
I’m always amazed when I see pictures of adult dogs cuddled up to sleep. My terriers and my Aussies always insisted on separate beds in separate rooms.
debbie
@Raven:
Is she going with you?
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus: Hahaha!
PST
@Emerald: My Octopus Teacher is indeed remarkable. I could not help but believe that the filmmaker is somewhere between highly eccentric and mildly crazy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a hell of a film. It’s unique, and probably no one else could have made it.
J.
Trixie is huge! Kids, they grow up so fast.
Leto
@Raven: Our Bella has been with us through 5 moves, and quite a number vacations. For moves, she’s not settled until we unpack the couch. Once that’s out, cleared, and she can sit/lay there she’s fine. But any time we’re packing bags, she becomes really anxious.
Benw
Just like the Pete/Badger smoosh but something’s a tiny bit different.
CaseyL
Scout’s expression says it all: why must I endure this??
Y’all may recall I have a trip to Hawaii planned for later this month. We might have to pull the plug on it.
The travel agency hasn’t responded to email for weeks, and if you try calling they let you know that due to “an unprecedented increase in call volume” you could be on hold for 2-3 HOURS. The “unprecedented increase” has been going on for weeks, and I just hope it’s not everyone else in the world trying to cancel their trip before us!
More likely, they’ve just shut down their Customer Service Department altogether. We’ve had multiple friends try to call as “new customers who want to book some travel,” and they get the same recording.
I’ve filled out and submitted an online contact request form, and also haven’t heard anything. I’ve decided to give the travel company an unwarranted benefit of the doubt and see if they respond only during weekdays – though a travel company that isn’t open on weekends strikes me as unlikely, if they were in good shape.
The good news, if there is any, is that we had the no-excuses travel insurance. Though it remains to be seen if the travel agency will honor it. I have a feeling they’re in financial trouble (not surprising, as the last few years have been brutal on the travel business) and intend to hang onto as much money as they can, by hook or by crook.
Raven
@Leto: Smart pups. Was she overseas with you?
eclare
@CaseyL: How frustrating! I hope you still get to go to Hawaii.
NotMax
@Geminid
If ever find Spam in my kitchen you have my 100% permission to cart me off to either the old folks home or the funny farm, whichever is closer.
;)
Reminded of a scene from an otherwise forgettable TV show about a family transported to an alternate dimension populated by humanoid replicants. When the cabinet doors in an inhabitant’s kitchen are opened, the shelves are shown stocked with can upon can upon can, each identically labeled “FOOD.”
trollhattan
Danish pancake (the one underneath).
lowtechcyclist
@Sure Lurkalot: I’d like that last sentence wiped from my memory banks, thank you. I can only imagine how hideous it was to experience it.
Jeffro
@Geminid:
@Sure Lurkalot:
I made “Spam fried rice” for my family once and you’ve never seen such hesitant, omg-this-is-gonna-suck faces turn into eyes-bugging-out-omg-this-rocks faces so quickly. It’s one of their favorites now!
zhena gogolia
@Jeffro: Sounds intriguing.
I was fed Spam as a child and hated it, but a friend of mine wrote a book about it, so I’ve been kind of Spam-curious since then.
eclare
@Sure Lurkalot: I have had prosciutto wrapped asparagus, how do you wrap Spam? It’s that bendable?
Geminid
@Jeffro: When I was a kid my Mom would sometimes cook a Spam dish. It was baked slices of Spam topped with pineapple slices and brown sugar, and it was good!
Suzanne
@NotMax: I was thinking about canned food today. We bought a lot in the first months of the pandemic. I’m trying to use it up.
I still like canned tomatoes for soup, though. Usually when I make soup, I’m in a hurry, so I don’t wanna mess around with peeling and chopping. I buy the San Marzano ones that are delicious. Pro tip: the canned tomato products at Costco are great.
Jeffro
@zhena gogolia:
They have 10+ varieties now, the most important of which is the one with 50% less fat and 25% less salt. Brings it just into the “nonlethal” range compared to the regular version. =)
But seriously, dicing it up and using it in fried rice is just amazing.
Jeffro
@Geminid: I think we had it that way, too. Probably only once, though, before we went back to the usual plain slabs of it (as my brother was and is a really picky eater).
trollhattan
@Geminid: Guess any recipe calling for salt, you might substitute Spam for salt in a 1:1 ratio and get away with it.
The Hawaiian fondness for the stuff is not just an urban legend and it pops up in various forms. Just nope.
PaulB
As a kid, we would occasionally have fried spam and eggs for breakfast, replacing the usual cold cereal. That was fine and I’d have no objection to eating spam that way again should the occasion arise.
As an adult, though, I’ve just never had the urge to continue the tradition or to get more adventurous with spam. I’m sure I’m missing out but it’s a sacrifice I’m prepared to continue making.
Jay
As a kid in the Maritimes, we had “fennel” on the last day of camping trips. ( Cubs, Scouts, Canoe Club, Family, Backpacking, etc).
It was what was left over of the canned food, stewed and poured over Minute Rice. It always included fried spam.
Did the West Coast Trail, south to north. Planned on 3600 calories a meal, but when we got to the end of the trail, we were still starving after dinner. Found an abandoned can of Spam, hidden in the driftwood, fried it up, couldn’t eat it. So we walked the 15 km into Bamfield, ate a side of fries, onion rings and 3 cheeseburgers each, washed down with a six pack each.
Last time I ever tried Spam, 40 years ago.
Leto
@Raven: she was. She was with us when we left for Italy, then to the UK, and finally back to the US. We had twin Lazy-Boy recliners that she would commandeer. Those were her safe spaces. But we got rid of them about 2 years ago, so her trusty default couch became the new safe spot.
NotMax
@Suzanne
Canned tomatoes, canned beets, canned whole baby potatoes*, canned corn, canned hearts of palm, canned water chestnuts*, some canned carrots*, some canned wax beans* and some canned mushrooms* are all serviceable ingredients in my book. Other canned veggies, not so much. Rule of thumb: if it is green (or supposed to be), bypass the cans.
*rinsed well and drained
eclare
Spam was never a big thing in my home growing up, I don’t think I ever had it. But I had tons of bologna. It’s yummy when barbecued!
eclare
@NotMax: Why would anyone can a potato? They last forever in their natural state.
I have never looked, but I have never seen a canned potato.
NotMax
@eclare
Did someone say bologna?
;)
NotMax
@eclare
The ones labeled canned whole potatoes are pre-cooked.
And with the climate being what it is in Hawaii, fresh potatoes don’t last weeks, let alone forever.
Raven
@eclare: There is nothing stinkier than rotten potatoes.
CarolPW
@eclare: I love bologna sandwiches but felt bad buying it ( some combination of too juvenile/low rent/bad taste/unhealthy). Then I discovered Italian mortadella – it’s just posh bologna so when I need a fix I buy that. It probably has fewer floor sweepings in it too.
NotMax
Haven’t seen it mentioned so want to note the death of comic book artist Neal Adams at age 80.
Irascible is a word and a half to describe him but there’s no denying his influence on revolutionizing comic book art during the 60s and 70s and was a staunch promoter and defender of creators’ rights.
bk
@eclare: I just bought the book
eclare
@NotMax: Fair point, had not considered that.
MisterForkbeard
@NotMax: My grandfather raised 11 kids on a public university’s professor salary – they ate a TON of spam. In fact, there’s a family cookbook of spam recipies I’ve got a copy of somewhere. It’s like… an inch thick. They ate a lot of the stuff.
I’ve made 5 or 10 of the recipies over the last decade. They’re surprisingly good, weirdly. And I admit to being a big fan of Spam Musubi, so clearly there’s some kind of use for the stuff.
eclare
@CarolPW: I’ll have to try that!
NotMax
@CarolPW
Can be hit or miss finding it but the Hebrew National bologna is several cuts above the kiddy lunchbox kind.
JanieM
@CaseyL: I just got back from a trip postponed from February. It involved one travel agent who died, extinguishing her one-person agency, and another whom I used to use but who had retired from my local AAA office, which proceeded to ignore me for a week after saying they’d get to my situation “tomorrow.” At that point I decided to take care of it myself.
I spent 2 or 3 hours on hold, all told, with American Airlines and then JetBlue. I got good help from courteous and competent agents (apparently competent: my trip was a success and I avoided all sorts of travel chaos that went on roughly parallel with my trip).
This might have been dumb luck, and having a travel agency to back me up has been helpful to me in the past. On the other hand, I’ve made several international trips on tickets from Expedia and never had a problem. (But those were all pre-covid.)
Given that you’re already involved with a travel agency, this saga isn’t particularly enlightening. My only useful advice is: if you sign up for TrueBlue (JetBlue’s frequent flyer thingie), don’t put a period after your middle initial. The web page will accept the period, then copy it to the reservation page, which WON’T take it. And neither page will let you edit the name field. (TSA blah blah Federal blah blah who the fuck knows.)
My hour+ on hold with JetBlue was to get the middle initial thing straightened out. Otherwise I would have been able to do the whole thing on their website. Sigh.
rikyrah
All that couch, and….that’s where they both wind up????
Scout211
Has anyone started watching Under the Banner of Heaven on Hulu? I loved the book and was wondering if the series is good enough to sign up for Hulu for a couple of months.
debbie
Rep. Jason Crow was just interviewed on NPR and said Nancy had invited GOP members to join the delegation to Kyiv, but no one accepted her invitation. FWIW.
NotMax
@CarolPW
There’s a budget brand of bologna I sometimes see, Bar-S.
Gotta give them props for truth in advertising — it tastes like S.
;)
Geminid
@eclare: The Hawaiian guy I talked to said that there were hardly any fresh vegetables around when he was growing up. There’s not a lot of tillable land there and most of it grew pineapples. He said fresh vegetables are available now, but back then just about all the food came in on ships, in cans. Potatoes too I guess.
JMS
I grew up in Hawaii although haven’t lived there full time for over 30 years (when I left for college). I never ate much spam except for spam musubi, which in my opinion is a platonic ideal for picnics, beach outings or on the go sustenance. Even my pa born and raised husband thinks so. The key is the spam must be sliced thin and fried in a sweetish sauce and the rice must be plain.
eclare
@Scout211: I loved the book too. The series has received positive, but not glowing reviews. I’ll probably watch, but I already have Hulu
Also, worth signing up to Hulu to watch Dopesick with Michael Keaton. Get both series!
Sure Lurkalot
@lowtechcyclist:
The asparagus wrapped Spam was like 40 years ago, so at least it was memorable!
@eclare:
She cut the Spam as thinly as possible which was nowhere near as thin as the prosciutto idea she was going for. It was as bad visually as it tasted.
Good on the folks here who’ve managed dishes that people like. Fried rice has rice peas carrots egg…maybe that’s the difference!
Sure Lurkalot
@Suzanne: Do you have a fave recipe for tomato soup using canned? I’ve bookmarked a few but a recommendation is always better!
NotMax
@JMS
7-11 here sells heart attack manapua. Stuffed with a mixture of Spam, Portuguese sausage and scrambled eggs.
NotMax
@eclare
From the little I’ve read about it, it’s heavy on Mormon propaganda.
Jeffro
@debbie: to been seen in a photo with Nancy Pelosi is probably the kiss of death in GQP circles
(see also: Chris Christie hugging Barack Obama, etc)
CaseyL
My Mom loves Spam, and cooks it frequently. She soaks it overnight to get some/most of the salt out, and then fries it to crispness around the edges.
I’ve had Spam sushi, and to my shock it was wonderful. I think the chef also soaked it first.
In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had Spam fresh out of the can, or that someone with real cooking smarts hadn’t gotten to first. So my opinion of Spam is higher than, perhaps, it should be
@JanieM: No, we’re not working with JetBlue, but I very much appreciate the advice!
eclare
@NotMax: Oh, good to know. The book was excellent.
Dan B
@Suzanne: Maestri Canned Tomatoes carried by a local import store are 2/3 the price of San Marzano and grown next to San Marzano. They’re great although to my taste Pomi brand sieved, or other types, taste closest to vine ripened – sweet, like a fully ripe tomato. They come in a box with a pull out pour spout.
Scout211
@NotMax:
It’s based on Jon Krakauer’s book Under the Banner of Heaven.
I hope it follows the book:
JanieM
@CaseyL: That bit about the period was for light entertainment.
More seriously, I sympathize with your plight. I know someone who is having difficulties right now with Aer Lingus over a postponed flight, so although I had good luck, there’s no magic in dealing directly with the airlines either. It’s a strange time.
James E Powell
@eclare:
Canned whole potatoes. They’ve also got diced & sliced.
Another Scott
Doggies are flexible!
A few days ago we were talking about Carlo’s excellent essays and I was nitpicking about “neoliberalism”. I still think it’s morphed too much to be meaningful, but I heard parts of a rebroadcast of an NPR Throughline episode on Capitalism: What makes us free? this afternoon. Lots and lots about Hyeck and Milton Friedman. It’s a good piece (50+ minutes).
And kinda reinforces my view that if Friedman and Reagan are in one Venn diagram circle, then Clinton and Obama and Biden are in another with only a little overlap. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
eclare
@James E Powell: Never knew! Thanks!
NutmegAgain
awwww doggos! so wonderful. wish I could snuggle them
debbie
@Jeffro:
True, but it puts the GOP tweets bemoaning only Dems went in a new light.
Dan B
Some Jackal recommended Better Than Bouillion and others swore by it. I found it at our local semi-irganic supermarket. Got Chicken BTB. Added it to steamed Red Potatoes (sliced thin) plus Capers and Sicilian EVO. THEY WERE THE BEST POTATOES EVER! I should try adding garlic but they were soooo good!!!
I have gotten Vegetable and Mushroom BTB. They’re great but the Chicken is a gift of the dogs! I’ve tried to pick up a few for friends but the Chicken BTB has been hovered up, and all the others rearranged by folks searching for that hidden jar.
Thank you whoever. You’re an angel!
Steeplejack
@CarolPW:
Leberkäse is also a very good “designer bologna.” Despite the name, it contains neither liver nor cheese.
mrmoshpotato
@eclare:
I will live forever – apparently!
Another Scott
Yup!
(via gavmacn)
Cheers,
Scott.
Omnes Omnibus
@mrmoshpotato: Are you in your natural state though?
kalakal
My school used to serve deep fried spam fritters in batter and for a variation deep fried corned beef fritters in batter. Looking back on it one serving was probably a humans fat requirement for a month. As a kid they tasted wonderful, I made some a couple of years back & they were vile, just a mouthfull of hot grease.
English boarding schools were tough :)
Emerald
@Dan B: Costco carries BTB chicken and often beef. There are lots more flavors, including garlic.
Miki
@NotMax: That sounds good.
I’ve been hankering for manapua for 40 years. No one makes it in Frostbite Falls, and I haven’t been back to Hawaii (lived there from 1977 – 1981).
Sure Lurkalot
@Dan B: Better than Bouillon is a great product. Costco sells big jars at a reasonable price. So many recipes depend on or are made better by using broth.
ETA Emerald beat me!
Dan B
@Scout211: Krakauer being a Seattle area backpacker and climber with porn star looks was a surprise to me as a first tier writer with great sensitivity. I’ve know a few men like that who were what seemed to be effortless overachievers in almost every facet of their lives. One of them had trouble with long term relationships so seemed an unbalanced and flawed human. I hope Krakauer has had a different trajectory.
karen marie
@CaseyL: Contact your bank?
Geminid
@Steeplejack: The Cheese Shop in Stuart’s Draft has a least six kinds of bologna, including cloth bologna and ring bologna. People come in tour buses to buy their stuff. Then they probably go on to the Little Debbie’s store to stock up on pastries fresh from the factory.
Dan B
@Emerald: You are evil!
(He says, warming up the car!!!)
karen marie
@Suzanne: I recently learned about canned potatoes. I’ve never tried them but it sounds like they’re good if you understand their limitations.
Dan B
@Sure Lurkalot: I just smeared the Chicken BTB on the hot potatoes, still steaming, and tossed them with a small amount of capers and EVO. No broth, although I did add some BTB to homemade chicken broth. Aaaaah…
Garlic BTB!!! OMG!
TaMara
Great. Now I want bologna.
On white bread.
With miracle whip….and a big iceberg lettuce leaf.
#childhoodmemories
karen marie
@CarolPW: You should try Boar’s Head beef/pork bologna. It is beautiful. It’s what bologna should be. All beef bologna is terrible. They carry it in the deli at Fry’s/Kroger’s but I hate that store so much at this point, not even the bologna can get me through the door.
Ladyracterinok
@Scout211:
There are two discussions of the movie at religion dispatches . One of them contains an extensive discussion of the book as well
zhena gogolia
@debbie: What a surprise.
zhena gogolia
@Jeffro: And of course that’s more important than supporting Zelenskyy.
zhena gogolia
@Another Scott: ABSOLUTELY. Yet my students think “neoliberalism” could be replaced by a picture of H. Clinton and Biden in the dictionary. Drives me wild.
mrmoshpotato
@Omnes Omnibus:
Define “natural state.”
Steeplejack
@Geminid:
Thanks! Put it in the road-trip dossier.
I get my occasional Leberkäse at the Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe here in Arlington. Combo deli/bakery.
Omnes Omnibus
@mrmoshpotato: I don’t know, but you should probably find out. Your immortality depends on it.
mrmoshpotato
@Dan B: Better Than Bouillion is great!
mrmoshpotato
@Omnes Omnibus: Ah yes. True.
CaseyL
@karen marie: That may be our last hope, but we have to work through a few steps first
That is, it isn’t a fraudulent charge, so we can’t dispute it that way. I’m not sure “non-responsiveness” counts, since this particular travel company is notorious (we found out after the fact) for ignoring calls/emails/any attempt at contacting them.
But my aunt had to change her flight herself, and pay out of pocket herself, when the airline made a change that didn’t allow her to arrive on time – and the travel company didn’t respond to her request for assistance at all.
It’s a very established company, been around for decades, and shouldn’t be this…. bad at basic service.
Geminid
@Steeplejack: You can’t lose traveling in the Valley. Millmont Nursery is right around the corner from the Cheese Shop. They have great plant material, but even if you are not buying the parking lot has a beautiful view.
Millmont is a Mennonite outfit so it’s closed on Sundays. They stay open on all secular holidays. I think it is likewise for the Cheese Shop.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
I think they were worried about losing Putin’s support checks. //
Kay
zhena gogolia
@Kay: He got the wrong candidate?
Danielx
Note: there is a Spam Museum in Minnesota. I did not go in.
Kay
@zhena gogolia:
He endorsed JD Vance. He did not endorse Josh Mandel who is also running. There is no JD Mandel.
Steeplejack
@Geminid:
After my impromptu field trip through darkest lower Maryland last Tuesday, which left me refreshed and de-stressed, I have decided that I need to get out and about more, even if it’s more or less random. I can always find a good restaurant or something interesting. And I do have a collection of places to go in the DMV.
This Tuesday I’m going to Philadelphia with a friend who has to do an in-person interview at the airport in the afternoon (TSA?) and then a Zoom call with some colleagues. She had me at “road trip,” so I wasn’t really listening. We’re figuring out where to eat lunch ahead of time. Might just go to the Reading Terminal Market and see what’s what.
Geminid
@Kay: It’s a scary thought though.
Kay
@zhena gogolia:
They’re neck and neck and it sounds like Josh Mandel is on Donald Trump’s mind!
Because it will be humiliating for him if Mandel wins. So fingers crossed! They’re both horrible so you can safely root for Mandel. Either/or. Doesn’t matter.
Ruckus ??
@Jeffro:
Spam and eggs.
And yes I use the low salt version.
This is a once in a while meal, not an everyday occasion.
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack: I love the Reading Terminal Market! Enjoy!
Lots of other good restaurants in that area, but I don’t know names.
Kay
@Geminid:
JD Vance will announce he’s now Josh Mandel if Mandel wins.
Timill
@Emerald: Their web site has some 26 different varieties, including lobster…
https://www.betterthanbouillon.com/our-products/
debbie
@Kay:
O.M.G.
JPL
@debbie: Twitter is saying that endorsement came after his taking the most difficult IQ test evah.
Feathers
I grew up eating Spam as camping food. Fond memories. Tried it as an adult and it wasn’t them same. However, I have had Spam in friend’s home cooking Asian dishes and it seems to work really well in that context.
For the open thread: I am really getting fed up with knitting designers. There are too many with a real contempt for knitters. They’ve completely taken over talking about knitting on social, and don’t seem to realize that they are talking to customers. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to Ravelry to look up a designer who’s complaining about not be paid what they’re worth for their work, and they have a small number of very basic patterns, with terrible pictures. And hardly anyone buying them. Yes, people deserve to get paid for their work. But you are running a solo business. People who open a restaurant are working hard, but is it the customer’s fault if no one is eating there and they close?
Sorry. Too many designer friends to be able to vent like this on the Twitters. They’ll kind of agree with me if I bring it up face to face, but online they don’t have that room.
Kay
@debbie:
Josh Mandel is inside his head, debbie :)
“oooh- what if I LOSE?”
I early voted Friday- just me and two bds of elections workers and two wingnut voters, man and woman. I asked for a Democratic ballot and the woman whipped her head around to look at me. Heavily made up, like, it had its own texture independent of her face.
Why can’t they mind their own business?
debbie
@JPL:
Wait until Twitter finds out JD Mandel is TFG and MTG’s love child. //
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Reading Terminal Market?
There’s the roast pork sandwich with broccoli rabe. Everything else is commentary.
;)
Elizabelle
@Jeffro: Recipe please for the Spam fried rice?
I believe you; have heard it’s good. Do you cook the Spam really, really crispy first?? (Have heard that is one secret to making it palatable.)
debbie
@Kay:
Ah, for the days when poll workers were impartial. //
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
My friend and I know Philadelphia pretty well. We used to always hit Old Original Nick’s Roast Beef on 20th Street in South Philly for an Italian beef sandwich and gravy fries, but she is wanting to branch out. (Note: “Nick” for sandwiches in Philadelphia is like “Tony” for pizza in New York.) I said something about “light Italian,” but we haven’t compared notes yet.
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack: Oh, that’s good. I do not know Philadelphia well at all, but thought the Reading Terminal Market was one of the coolest places. Wish we had similar in Virginia (do you know of any?; I know Baltimore used to have an old market, no?)
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Lots of good choices there. I can’t remember what I had last time. It was pre-pandemic. I used to drive the Sighthound Hall sighthound up there for checkups and maintenance at a concierge greyhound vet’s place. Kitty has been gone for several years now. The current non-sighthound, chonky boi Chip, is on the January page of this year’s Calendar A.
Geminid
@Feathers:I am reminded of what Bob Kerry said after he dropped out on 1992 and Bill Clinton and Paul Tsongas went on to a two man race for the Presidential nomination. Kerry referred to his career as a pharmicist turned restaurateur. It didn’t matter how good restaurent staff thought an entree was, Kerry said. If the customers said it stank, it stank.
Kerry was being realistic but I think he was being hard on himself. He did OK through the first five primaries. If Kerry could have made it to the middle primaries he might have come out on top. But the media wanted a two man horse race and Kerry was sold short.
Steeplejack
@debbie:
I thought she meant the wingnut woman voter.
Kay
@debbie:
Not a pollworker. The GOP Bd of Election worker who was there is AJ and he’s good. I took pollworker training with him last cycle. He hates the voter fraud conspiracy theorists as much as we do. It’s insulting to him – he takes some pride in running elections properly- and they’re a pain in the ass.
JPL
@debbie: If democrats would cross over and vote for her primary opponent, she would not be an issue. just sayin
PBS carried the local debates and at one point had to cut MTG’s mic because she would not shut up. How surprising is that.
debbie
@Steeplejack: @Kay:
Oops, sorry. I’ve never had other voters listening to my conversation with a poll worker. That is very nervy. My apologies to AJ.
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
I don’t know of any around here. There is a big market around Union Station downtown, but I’ve never been to it. About the closest I get to the luxe shopping experience is an occasional trip to the Wegmans in Fairfax.
The Italian Market in South Philly is also cool, and there are a ton of excellent small bakeries around there. I remember one time my friend needed chestnuts for some special holiday dish, and the guy at the hole-in-the-wall place in the Italian Market said, “What kind?” They had like three or four different kinds!
debbie
@JPL:
Appearing on PBS should lose her some cred with the MAGAts.
zhena gogolia
@Kay: I prefer Mandel because he can’t possibly be worse than Vance. No one can.
Feathers
@Geminid: This was two designers going back and forth about how arrogant it was for knitters to bring up how long they’ve been knitting when they say are having trouble with a pattern. “But they could have been knitting garter stitch scarves for 40 years!” “It usually means they are embarrassed about their skill levels and that they have to ask for help.”
No, it means I know what I’m doing an don’t be a condescending shit to me. Sorry. I knit and like knitting content. To often it turns out that it comes from some real assholes.
On the other hand, an expectation of personalized service seems to have become built into the indie knitting model, that we are all a community. It just isn’t sustainable.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
Oh, but he is. Just one example from his Wiki page:
MagdaInBlack
@Kay: Yes, I’m listening to this latest rally, and for this one, sedatives are the drug of choice.
Drunk uncle routine. What Al Capone went thru with investigations is peanuts compared to trumps martyrdom.
JPL
@debbie: Local PBS carries the debates. I should have been clearer, but you are correct. They have no idea how to find the PBS channel???
Elizabelle
@MagdaInBlack:
May he be proven correct on that. Capone got paroled early; cannot happen with this one.
Geminid
@debbie: Mandel is an awful person, and Vance is a horrible one. But in practical, voting terms, neither one could be much worse than Portman.
Portman might have been a stronger candidate in the general election, though, if he had run and if he could have won the primary. We’ll never know because Portman got out while the getting was good.
So unless Matt Dolan somehow sneaks past the gruesome two-some, Tim Ryan will have a fighter’s chance against a personally awful or horrible opponent.
JPL
@Geminid: Portman comes across as a moderate, even though he doesn’t vote as one.
what’s with the appears to
Even Mediate
Trump Appears to Forget Who He Endorsed Ahead of Ohio Senate GOP Primary: ‘We’ve Endorsed J.P., Right? J.D. Mandel’
laura
@Suzanne: This right here is what you’re looking for: https://www.marthastewart.com/328115/tomato-bread-soup Replace ripe tomatoes for a can of really good tomatoes – I like Cento or Bianco. Warning! I fell in love on a blind date eating this soup for lunch in a crowded restaurant because “victim was last seen with” and if a lunch date fails, and you aren’t murdered, you can salvage the remainder of the day. But, seriously, the soup is That Good, That Satisfying, that worth the risk any time you find yourself with leftover good bread stuff like a ciabatta or such like, some fresh basil and a big can of tomatoes. A scrape of parmesan and a puddle of olive oil and you need to eat in 30 minutes or less.
debbie
@Geminid:
Portman is getting out because people in his party have become too mean for him. So have most of the citizens of Ohio.
JPL
In GA you have to win by more than 50 percent, or the top two have a runoff.
Geminid
@JPL: I think it will take more time to know, but Trump may be starting to lose it mentally. If he is I think it will be evident by the end of this year.
Elizabelle
@laura: Sounds great. Thank you.
Geminid
@debbie: A RINO should have a thicker skin, like DeWine has.
debbie
@Geminid:
That’s the one thing that wizened gnome does have!
JPL
BTW Trump is going to deny he said it, because like Kevin McCarthy know they no longer matter.
Feathers
@Elizabelle: Here’s two videos from a Korean cooking channel I like. I think there are some other ones, but these are the Spam focused ones.
Spam 101: https://youtu.be/QAsEkgqwbmA
6 New Ways to Enjoy Spam: this https://youtu.be/60dvg9Hr_HM
And a video about why Spam is so popular in Korea (and they sell fancy gift box versions): https://youtu.be/BaeI6H4zZTw
Elizabelle
@Feathers: Thank you! What fun. Will let you know if I ever make any of these recipes!
Geminid
@debbie: I can see why Portman might want to cash in. Retired Senators can make some “real money” if they want to.
I feel a little sorry for DeWine, though. At his age he should just retire. What is he going to accomplish in four more years as Governor?
DeWine reminds me of the adage that a politician is a sick man who gets well by being elected.
Ken
@Kay: You’d think he’d at least remember whose name was on the check. Although, he might then have said he endorsed Thiel.
laura
@Elizabelle: It is seasonless and always right. I reckon, you’ll enjoy it.
Suzanne
@Sure Lurkalot: Honestly, I use the one from Damn Delicious and make a few improvisations depending on mood and what I have on hand. A fun version is to add the little ravioli or tortellini to the crockpot after blending the stuff up and then letting it hang out to cook for another half an hour. I love some heat, so sometimes I add the Trader Joe’s Bomba paste or crushed red pepper.
Mr. Suzanne and I are still mostly WFH. As such, my approach to cooking has shifted a bit. Lots of prepping crockpots at lunchtime for eating at dinner. I distinctly look for meals that my kids like, and also have what I consider a low-input-to-high-output ratio.
I am perfectly happy to make a meal out of an apple with peanut butter, or a piece of Ezekiel bread avocado toast. I am lazy.
Elizabelle
@Feathers: Watched the first video; I like the guy’s narration (and knife skills). Also like that he made three different dishes from pretty much the same basic ingredients, and two different sauces (both looked good).
The woman’s comments are funny. She does warn you need rice, because the Spam is salty.
Elizabelle
The Korean chef: “If somebody asks you what’s in the pancake, just don’t answer them.”
prostratedragon
Scout: “This is what I get for asking Mom for a weighted blanket.”
The Lodger
@NotMax: so did they steal that gag from Repo Man or was it the other way around?