Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Everybody saw this coming.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Petty moves from a petty man.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Pizza and Cake!

Pizza and Cake!

by | 108 Comments

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So our power went out around 10 am this morning, and about 2:30 I realized I was starving (not literally) so I ordered pizza. I shared it with the neighbor who was also without power because they were surely hungry, too.  Everyone on the other side of the street had power, so my neighbor across the street who made me a “Henry” wi-fi network when I was without internet for a couple of days a month or two ago, brought me online again and said he could recharge my devices before bedtime.

Then, just as the pizza arrived, he called to ask if I would like some of the fancy chocolate cake with raspberry something on top, that his mom had made yesterday when she was visiting.

So we are all eating pizza and fancy chocolate cake.

Power came back on just as I walked in the house at 4:27, from delivering the pizza.  It’s great to have good neighbors!

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

108Comments

  1. 1.

    Suzanne

    Your neighbors all sound so nice!

    We are heading home tomorrow, from a lovely week in Lewes/Rehoboth Beach. It was just so great to let the kids have so much fun, basically do whatever they wanted. Beach time, ice cream, movies, board games, no agenda other than chillness. SuzMom has held up okay without us, and will be getting a hip replacement. And the doctors assured her that she was not imminently dying and instructed her to chillax.

  7. 7.

    JoyceH

    Heh – whenever I see someone exclaim “Pizza!” I think Trump’s been indicted again. A friend and I always get pizza on indictment day so the first person who hears the news texts to the other “Pizza!”

  8. 8.

    Kayla Rudbek

    Repeated from downstairs: I’m trying to decide whether to sell some of my clothes from Svaha on the Facebook fan group, or whether I should just send them all to ThredUp and have ThredUp sell them for me. Advantages of Facebook sale: 1) sell straight to the fan base 2) potentially more money in my account right now. Advantages of ThredUp: 1) no shipping fees 2) just pop it into one box and ThredUp takes care of everything else.  Any suggestions?

  10. 10.

    Suzanne

    AND AND AND — I forgot to mention — I got to read a book. A whole one. Without pictures.

  12. 12.

    CaseyL

    WaterGirl – You have great neighbors! And you’re also a great neighbor! And now I want pizza!

    @Suzanne: ​
    Yay! I’m so happy your vacation went well, and you were able to relax and enjoy it!

  14. 14.

    Ken

    @JoyceH: No new indictment, but Baud shared in the next post down that Judge Chutkan denied Trump’s request for a delay. That sounds like as good an excuse for pizza and cake as any.

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken: It seems like Trump wants to be able to get in as many threats before the judge actually gets to rule on this.  He is a petulant child, albeit an evil one.

  18. 18.

    WereBear

    Since this seems to be leisure themed I have gotten my Fire 7 tablet to use as an Ereader. Installed the Kindle and Scribd apps so all my reading is on one optimized device.

    My experiments with PDFs are less successful.

    Silk browser. Keyboard does have slidey keys and I like that.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    @LAO:

    I wonder how Pence will respond since he seems to have discovered his ballsack after Trump was indicted.

  24. 24.

    trollhattan

    Sometimes I can really hate people. A thousand bucks and a whole THREE years banned from hunting. That’s it, that’s the punishment, and I guarantee US and CA DFW agents expended hundreds of thousands of dollars in staff time investigating the dudes, then there was the prosecution, etc. Fuck me.

    A Northern California man was sentenced Friday in Sacramento federal court to a temporary hunting ban and a fine for violating an international treaty the after organizing and participating in a goose hunt near the Sutter National Wildlife Refuge.

    During the hunt, according to prosecutors, Carlos T. Ortiz, 27, of Live Oak and nine other hunters shot and killed hundreds of snow geese and white-fronted geese — both species that are protected under the international treaty Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The treaty’s signatories are the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan and Russia. Ortiz pleaded guilty to transportation and receipt of untagged migratory game birds.

    He was sentenced in federal court in Sacramento to a three-year hunting ban, three years of probation and a $1,000 fine. The two charges could have resulted in six months in prison, according to an information filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. It was not known if others in the hunting party were charged. Under this law, hunters may not kill, capture, sell or transport any migratory bird, unless they are authorized to do so under a permit issued by the U.S. Interior secretary.

    Even with a permit, if migratory game birds are killed and left behind anywhere other than a hunter’s home, they must have a tag attached signed by the hunter with detailed information including their address, the number and species of birds and the date the birds were killed. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife investigation revealed that none of the 258 birds shot by Ortiz and other hunters on the trip were tagged as required by law. Prosecutors, in a Friday news release, did not say whether the group had a permit to hunt the birds.
    https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article277977513.html#storylink=cpy

  30. 30.

    LAO

    @Baud: ok, maybe but it’s certainly witness tampering.

    @NotMax: thanks. I hope I’m around for the NYC meetup. It would be great to see you again!

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    @LAO

    Please chime in should you have any suggestions for a spot to meet. No idea what is and what isn’t open anymore.

  33. 33.

    LAO

    @smith: In all seriousness, Trump commands a very violent, unhinged mob of followers. From the government’s prospective, his posts function as a call to arms. Also, I think the Judge will not be pleased.

    But, that’s just my opinion.

  35. 35.

    Geminid

    @LAO: I see a lot of disparagement of Trump’s lawyers, and he’s certainly hired some turkeys. But what do you think of Lauro and Blanche?

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    @LAO: @Baud: 

    (This looks to me like “Hang Mike Pence, version 2.0.”)

    I don’t think that’s going to help Trump on Monday.

    Surely Trump’s attorneys know that Trump is playing with fire.  Do you think that Trump knows it

    edit: Sadly, I think Pence has determined that Pence’s best play for the nomination for 2024 is to come out against Trump.  Now.  More than 18 months after Trump nearly got him killed.

  37. 37.

    LAO

    @Geminid: Trump is an impossible client so it’s difficult to judge them because their ability to function is hampered by their client. (Although, for the record I personally hate Tim Parlatore – he’s a goddamn weasel)

  39. 39.

    mrmoshpotato

    So we are all eating pizza and fancy chocolate cake.

    Mmmmmmmm

    What toppings did you get?

    Pan frying a chicken leg quarter while baking some ribs in the oven here.

    All set for Svengoolie!

  42. 42.

    WaterGirl

    @mrmoshpotato: I was so hungry when I ordered, that I got a small Papa Dels Sicilian cheese (Siciilian = deep dish) and one small THIN sausage and one pizza (with only half as much sausage because they add so much!).

  45. 45.

    suzanne

    @WereBear: It was one of the Gamache books by Louise Penny. Perfect beach read.

    I love to read and I find it so difficult to do at home. So many needs to meet, a few of which are my own.

  50. 50.

    smith

    @HumboldtBlue: Josh Marshall had a piece a couple days ago about Pence’s recent moral awakening, if that’s what it is, “Mike Pence’s Vaguely Inspiring Supervised Visit with His Dignity.”  He pointed out that Pence found himself in a box, because he will be an essential prosecution witness in TFG’s J6 trial, and he has no choice now but to condemn the attempted coup, which he actually has done, rather forcefully. But only because he had no other option.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    @LAO:

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    @LAO: I am sure.  Trump absolutely does not get that.  Yet.  I believe he is about to get *bitch-slapped by the judge this week.

    *Not sure if that is still an acceptable term to use?

    Pizza and Cake!

    Alternate option:  Pretty sure that sometime this coming week Trump is going to experience a come to Jesus meeting with the judge.

  57. 57.

    WaterGirl

    @LAO: Well, only front-pagers can actually post an image or the twitter link itself.

    Your links work fine!   But if you want folks to see the text when you post it, click the 3 dots and choose embed, and then copy and paste the embed code.

    You’ll get the text in a block quote, with links, but no fancy twitter formatting.

    When I see a really good twitter link posted in the comments, I will often embed it so everyone can see it in full glory. :-)

  59. 59.

    LAO

    @WaterGirl: The technical, legal term is “bench-slapped “. I agree with you. I also think Hilzoy (and the entire thread) is 100% correct.

     

    eta: thanks for the tutorial

  61. 61.

    WaterGirl

    @LAO: Love that… bench-slapped!

    Trump thinks he has some special power to wield in these cases, surely because he was able to get away with that stuff in all the civil cases over the years.

    I find it kind of amazing that he still hasn’t figured out that there is a whole different set of rules in this new environment.  He still thinks consequences are for the little people.

    P.S.  I, too, am very glad to see you commenting again.

  62. 62.

    Jackie

    @WereBear: I keep thinking: Mouse meet cats! 😁 It really seems like Smith and Judge Chutkan are toying with TIFG until the kill.

  68. 68.

    Ken

    @Jackie: @WaterGirl: Agreed that it’s giving Trump enough rope. Admittedly that’s not difficult, since when Trump is told “do not do this” he immediately runs out and does it, because you’re not the boss of me.

    Also I don’t think either is explicitly trying to trap Trump. They are just following absolutely standard criminal court processes.

  70. 70.

    LAO

    @WaterGirl: it’s hard to understand, especially if the defendant is privileged, how great the power imbalance is federal court.  I don’t care how wealthy a defendant is, whatever available resources they may have doesn’t come close to the DOJ. It’s really, really impossible to level the playing field.

  71. 71.

    WaterGirl

    @Jackie: I only see a house flag at that link.  I would love to have that bumper sticker, though.  Do you have a link to that?  (It may have been right in front of me, but I didn’t see it.)

  73. 73.

    narya

    We did not have pizza and FancyCake. We had venison steak (seared, rare but not bloody), wine sauce from deglazing the pan, caramelized onions, gnocchi (made earlier and frozen), and roasted broccoli with garlic and butter; dessert was some brownie/chocolate cake with the last of the strawberry frosting. And a nice cab from the local wine store.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken: I agree that neither Jack Smith nor the judge is toying with Trump, or playing cat and mouse.

    But I think they know exactly what he is going to do to get himself in big trouble, and they are not saving him from himself.

    Trump will have very publicly earned whatever legal consequences  come his way in the week ahead.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    @narya: That sounds delightful.  Especially jealous of the gnocchi.  Home-made?  I would have no idea how to do that.  it’s probably time-consuming, like making your own pasta?

  76. 76.

    bbleh

    @WaterGirl: He is a malignant narcissist, which in some ways is like a petulant child who has grown (physically anyway) into an adult sociopath.  He’s far more dangerous than any petulant child, even one with a box of hand grenades.

    What is kinda interesting (from a distance) is how his behavior so closely resembles that of authoritarian groups and cults.  ANY deviation is tantamount to total heresy and must be met with a ferocious counterattack (along with being voted off the island, of course).

    I would say they are beginning — only that — to run the risk of excluding so many people that a lot — half or more — of his nominal support becomes eggshell-thin and subject to collapse.  It’s a long time ’til the elections …

  77. 77.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl: Maybe it was a flag – that’s why I put ? after bumper sticker.

    I wouldn’t dare hang that flag in my red neck of the woods, but I’d love a sticker to magnetize and put on the fridge!

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    @bbleh:

    I would say they are beginning — only that — to run the risk of excluding so many people

    Who are they and what are they doing that’s running the risk of excluding… who?

    At a guess, “they” is not just Trump but also folks like DeSantis?  What they are doing is passing or attempting to pass all these extreme laws, banning books etc?  Excluding current supporters who didn’t sign up for anything that extreme?  Those supporter swill eventually run out of excuses for the behavior of Trump, et al?

  79. 79.

    narya

    @WaterGirl: It IS a bit of a pain in the ass . . . but it’s not as hard as you think. There was a recipe in Lucky Peach that worked well. (I don’t have a potato ricer, so had to use a fork.) Basically, I get potatoes from the farm share and then make a WAD of gnocchi–I boil it til it floats, put them on a cooling rack and freeze them individually then bag them up. I’ve used white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and (most fun) purple potatoes–basically I ignore the instructions about The Best Potato To Use. The best potato is the pile in my fridge. This is my general approach–put in the effort to make a large batch, portion and freeze, and there you go. I find it much easier to double the amount of time for quadruple the amount of product. That’s when podcasts are particularly useful

    ETA: I also use the skins! I throw them back in the oven to crisp up, maybe put some cheese and/or butter on them, and/or some veggies.

  81. 81.

    WaterGirl

    @narya: Just potatoes and flour???

    (back to reading at the link)

    edit: Okay, I am now officially overwhelmed. Don’t think I will be making gnocchi from scratch, but I would kill to have some.

  82. 82.

    mrmoshpotato

    @narya:

    The best potato is the pile in my fridge.

    :(

    ETA – someone likes cold potatoes instead of HOT potatoes.

  83. 83.

    narya

    @WaterGirl: Yes!! I am NOT an expert at this, but you do start to get a feel for the dough; I found the narrative aspect of that recipe to be very helpful. And, when it works the first time, it is MAGIC.  I tend not to worry whether my potatoes are old enough, though I do try to think ahead a bit (i.e., get 5-10 lbs from the farm share and let them sit a few weeks if I can).

  85. 85.

    Bill

    When I lived on Cape Cod, the neighbors all knew that if the power went out during a winter storm, that my house would be warm with the gas fireplace, and that there would be a ham or turkey in the oven and a pot of chili on the stove. We did get something like 9 feet of snow from one Nor’easter, luckily the power stayed on for that one.

  88. 88.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Bill:

    We did get something like 9 feet of snow from one Nor’easter, luckily the power stayed on for that one. 

    Nine feet in one week(end)?

  89. 89.

    narya

    @WaterGirl: Give it a go! I would start with a smaller batch–even just two potatoes–to start getting a feel for it. At worst, you’ll have some tasty crispy skins with melty cheese to go with the pile of sad not-quite-gnocchi, but you’ll get enough info to make the second batch better.

  90. 90.

    Ken

    Trump lawyer John Lauro, who filed the (now-denied) motion asking for a delay, is doing a “Full Ginsburg” tomorrow, appearing on all five Sunday news shows. Teri Kanefield, Andrew Weissmann, the “Mueller She Wrote” account, and other legal bloggers note that this is not the best way to convince the judge you need more time.

    (I also thank them for introducing me to the “Full Ginsburg”, even though it sounds like something that could get you arrested for solicitation.)

  93. 93.

    Sure Lurkalot

    WaterGirl, why am I not surprised you are a good neighbor and have good neighbors?

    Suz, so glad you went and thoroughly enjoyed the beach and the kiddos had a blast.

    Narya, whenever you write about your procuring and meals, I wanna ask, where do you live?

    Judge Chutkan, thank you.

  94. 94.

    narya

    @Sure Lurkalot: I live in Chicago, but I have a friend who hunts wild turkey and venison (and, occasionally, morels) in Wisconsin, I have a fish share from Sitka Salmon Shares, I have a veggie share from Tomato Mountain, and I get other “hippie meat” from Mint Creek Farm. And beans from Rancho Gordo. I also went to pastry school and then worked in a bakery (I was contemplating a career change that didn’t work out), and both mom and (Italian-born) maternal grandmother are/were great cooks, so . . . I experiment a lot.

  95. 95.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Jay: yeah, it will be quicker to post the pictures in the Facebook group; the hassle is then keeping up with the comments to figure out who gets what (I’ve done it before and I do have time right now). It might be best to list everything in the Facebook group first and then send whatever doesn’t sell in a week to ThredUp. Although members of the group will post links to ThredUp or Poshmark anyway…

  96. 96.

    geg6

    @WaterGirl:  I think making good homemade gnocchi is much harder than pasta.  It can be tricky to get just that right pillowy texture of great gnocchi.  I’ve made gnocchi several times and the first few batches were just too dense.  I’ve mastered it now but it took a while and I now have a great Italian place down the road and owned by a friend whose grandmother (about 90 yo) makes their gnocchi and he sells me them frozen.  Much easier and admittedly better than even my best attempts.

  97. 97.

    narya

    @geg6: One of the topics I wanted to pursue, if I had gotten a job as a professor, was the notion of embodied knowledge: there are so many things where the literal feel of it makes the difference. There were days when I was making croissants at the bakery when I just knew it was a good batch, and other days when the dough fought me tooth and nail. And I was, relatively speaking, an amateur. (I may have noted here before that one of my coworkers could tell when the new  wheat harvest flour had started coming in, just by how the dough felt.)

  100. 100.

    Matt McIrvin

    We had various plans for today that all simultaneously fell through, so we just went to Canobie Lake Park. This is a little amusement park that’s 20 minutes from my house. I went to a couple of huge theme parks and rode huge roller coasters this year, but there’s something about this place that just surpasses them in charm.

    The most popular ride is a wooden roller coaster from 1936. Lovely ride. The other major coaster is a looping ride with a vertical lift and beyond-vertical drop, whose single-rider line is somehow the park’s greatest secret; you can just walk right on if you’re willing to ride alone. There’s a barbecue stand currently operating in the middle of the park that produces truly excellent ribs and pulled pork sandwiches. There’s a pinball parlor and a collection of games that rivals the biggest theme parks I’ve been to. I heard the little waterpark was horribly slammed with crowds but I didn’t go there today.

  101. 101.

    Matt McIrvin

    @narya: Oh, yeah, baking bread is particularly like that. There are all these physical cues that are hard or impossible to verbalize.

  102. 102.

    NotMax

    @WaterGirl

    Somewhere in what passes for files I have a recipe for a variation on gnocchi, made with carrots,
    which is really tasty.

    The only semi-complex thing to master is the two-spoon method of forming them individually into quenelles before dropping them into boiling water or stock.

    Here’s a video (In German) demonstrating the technique, in this case for cheese gnocchi.

  103. 103.

    geg6

    @narya:

    Yes, feel and getting to know what the right feel is is the secret to homemade gnocchi and pasta.  It takes time to get that right.

  105. 105.

    geg6

    So I went to see Barbie today with my niece and her mom, my younger sister.  We loved it!  Such fun!  And my first movie theater visit since before the pandemic.  Had been to the Benedum in the ‘Burgh a few times to see shows (Hadestown and Jagged Little Pill), it was my first movie theater in years.  That had as much to do with my lack of interest in any films released in the last 3-4 years as it had to do with COVID.

  106. 106.

    Jackie

    TIFG is stumping in S Carolina and is doubling down his attacks on Jack Smith.

    I’m really looking forward to see what happens Mon. with Judge  Chutkan.

    “Donald Trump attacked Special Counsel Jack Smith, saying he’s “a deranged human being.””

    “He added: “You take a look at that face, you say that guy is a sick man.””

  108. 108.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Bill:

    i think it was 04-05 based on the cars we had. I think we got 6′ the first day and another 3 shortly thereafter. It was unreasonable. 

    Wow!  That’s ummmm a lot!

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