The Totally Boring News Thread

[old3bob]

28 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

 

Julian used to be famous for its apple pie (still is but read on).  But a while ago (2019?) when I was there the last time, I was half disappointed ordering a slice in a cafe, and then when I went to the bakery specializing in those pies to get a couple that someone asked me to bring, I spoke with the owner and she told me that they are not allowed anymore to buy (or get donations of) local apples from residents with orchards the way they used to.  They now get buckets of pre-sliced apples from some corporation -- she showed me those plastic buckets with wilting pre-cut apples of some uninteresting variety or other.  Oh.  So that's why I was half disappointed -- I did seem to remember better Julian apple pies from a while before...  

 

Bummer on the lower quality apple pie replacement.  Anyway I imagine you've been to Dudleys (on the way to Julian) for fresh bread?

On a different subject I was in SD. during one of its several terrible fire seasons which was a super bad and sad for many homeowners!

Edited Wednesday at 09:38 PM by old3bob

[Taomeow]

2 hours ago, doc benway said:

PS - I'm also fond of Saint-Emilion Gran Cru wines, along with Pomerol, my favorite of the Bordeaux's. I've become increasingly enamored of wines from eastern Washington state - cabernets and syrahs in particular. Although, truth be told I rarely drink anymore. My brother is visiting next week so it will be an alcohol heavy 10 days! Gotta start doing some preparation...

 

I drink very little, but appreciate it when it's something good.  Will have to check out the Washington state wines, it's terra incognita to me.  As for relatives thwarting our modest drinking habits, I'm no stranger to that phenomenon.  Las month I spent a few days with my brother- and sister-in-law and it's interesting that, while most people (to my knowledge) who don't have an abnormal relationship with alcohol tend to drink less as they get older, here I observed the opposite phenomenon -- they both drink way more than they used to in their younger years, and it's hard liquor too, and they start early in the day...  and don't think twice about pouring a glass for their (adult) daughter to the brim -- first thing they do when she comes to visit.  And since they all have different tastes in alcohol (gin, cognac, whisky respectively), the house is choke full of every variety.  And of course you have to partake -- every bottle is advertised by its aficionado as something special that you simply have to try.  I think I consumed way more alcohol in three days than I usually do in three months.

 

Hang in there while your brother is visiting.   

Edited Wednesday at 10:41 PM by Taomeow

[Taomeow]

Made goulash with mashed potatoes for dinner.  The boring part?  It was yesterday and it's gone...  so I'll have to cook something again tonight.  But what?  All I have left in the fridge is vegetables.  Boring...

 

[Cobie]

15 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

…

I have the same plates! 
 

 

Edited Thursday at 08:37 PM by Cobie

[forestofclarity]

Watched Oh God with John Denver and George Burns. I was pleasantly surprised at how light but also deep it was for a 1970's comedy about the doubt and the existence of God. 

[Nungali]

SALMON   (3)

 

I get up one morning and decide to have salmon on toast for breakfast .

This time I am better prepared .

I have been to the shops and got two tins of salmon.

(Just in case something goes wrong .)

I have been to the bakers and got a loaf of sliced toast bread .

Also one new large pat of butter graced by bag .

I look in the cupboard , yes there is salmon .

I look in the tin, yes there is bread .

I open the salmon and  place it in a strainer to drain .

I put 5 .. not 4 not 6 ... but 5 drops of lemon juice on it .

(One for each corner and one in the middle )

I toast the bread and put the toast on the rack on top

to stop it going soggy .

I delicately  sculpt some butter curls from the pat .

The moment has arisen !

I butter the toast

I mash the salmon  on top with a  fork

spread it our even .

I stand back to admire my handiwork .

- something is missing .

It seems  .....  'lacking' .

I know ! It needs a sprig of parsley on top !

So I go outside and wander down to the veggie garden

I pick the freshest , greenest, most glowing sprig of parsley  that  there is

I take it back to the kitchen , only to find

The cat has had it .

[old3bob]

I read all of that last prose...

[Taomeow]

8 hours ago, Nungali said:

SALMON   (3)

 

I get up one morning and decide to have salmon on toast for breakfast .

This time I am better prepared .

I have been to the shops and got two tins of salmon.

(Just in case something goes wrong .)

I have been to the bakers and got a loaf of sliced toast bread .

Also one new large pat of butter graced by bag .

I look in the cupboard , yes there is salmon .

I look in the tin, yes there is bread .

I open the salmon and  place it in a strainer to drain .

I put 5 .. not 4 not 6 ... but 5 drops of lemon juice on it .

(One for each corner and one in the middle )

I toast the bread and put the toast on the rack on top

to stop it going soggy .

I delicately  sculpt some butter curls from the pat .

The moment has arisen !

I butter the toast

I mash the salmon  on top with a  fork

spread it our even .

I stand back to admire my handiwork .

- something is missing .

It seems  .....  'lacking' .

I know ! It needs a sprig of parsley on top !

So I go outside and wander down to the veggie garden

I pick the freshest , greenest, most glowing sprig of parsley  that  there is

I take it back to the kitchen , only to find

The cat has had it .

 

It's almost Chekhov.  There's a classic short story of his about a guy who was waiting impatiently to be served blini (pancakes similar to crêpes) by his cook, full of anticipation, three kinds of vodka on the table waiting to help the blini along -- and then, when they arrived dripping with fresh butter, he grabbed the first one burning his fingers in his impatience, garnished it with smoked salmon and sour cream and caviar (at three rubles forty copecks a pound -- i.e. the expensive variety in his time, the kind that is $600 a pound today), wrapped everything into his blin (the singular of blini), smacked his lips and was about to take a bite and had a stroke.  

[old3bob]

 

yes, the plans of mice and men go awry...

[Nungali]

SALMON   (4)

 

I get up one morning and decide to have salmon on toast for breakfast .

This time I am better prepared .

I look in the cupboard , yes there is salmon .

I look in the tin, yes there is bread .

I look on the shelf, yes there is cat food .

I open the salmon and  place it in a strainer to drain .

I put 5 .. not 4 not 6 ... but 5 drops of lemon juice on it .

(One for each corner and one in the middle )

I toast the bread and put the toast on the rack on top

to stop it going soggy .

I delicately  sculpt some butter curls from the pat .

I empty the cat food into the bowl, tapping the can with the spoon

The cat comes running and I place the bowl outside the door

the cat is busy eating  and I close the door

The moment has arisen !

I butter the toast

I mash the salmon  on top with a  fork

 and spread it our even .

I stand back to admire my handiwork .

- something is missing .

It seems  .....  'lacking' .

I know ! It needs a sprig of parsley on top !

I slip out the door closing it behind me

the cat is still busy at its bowl

I wander down to the veggie garden

I pick the freshest , greenest, most glowing sprig of parsley  that  there is

I bring it back to the cabin

the cat is still busy eating

I slip through the door closing it behind me

I look out the peep hole, the cat is still outside .

I place the parsley sprig in the centre of the toast

on second thought, it needs to be just off centre

for the perfect effect

I stand back to admire my creation

Then I realise I am not actually hungy

so I threw it in the bin .

 

[Nungali]

SALMON (5)

 

I get up one morning and decide to have salmon on toast for breakfast

I turn to look back at the bed

and a women is in there !

Ahhh, thats right !  - Last night !

I say to her

" I am having salmon on toast for breakfast

would you like some ?"

" That is an unusual breakfast ." she responded .

" Well, not just unusual but actually very hard to get through the process . "

And I went on to explain it to her

All the trials and tribulations

all the hopes and failures

the frustrations and lack of success

and there had been MANY more of those than I write here

so I re-countered all of them to her .

It seemed that after a while she  decided to get up and get dressed while listening.

I continued explaining my frustrations to her , the anticipations, the failures

my ever mounting salmon bills , the empty piles of tins growing by the back door

my dwindling bank account

my frustration at never feeling salmonly satisfied

She decided to go for  an early morning walk as I explained it all to her

No problem , I followed along  explaining  my  fishy frustrations

I asked why , is it some karmic curse, some secret aversion

that my unconscious causes me to self sabotage ?

Then , strangely, she  got into her car and drove off !

Just like that !

Sometimes I think women are strange .

I suspect something might be wrong with them .

[Apech]

44 minutes ago, Nungali said:

SALMON (5)

 

I get up one morning and decide to have salmon on toast for breakfast

I turn to look back at the bed

and a women is in there !

Ahhh, thats right !  - Last night !

I say to her

" I am having salmon on toast for breakfast

would you like some ?"

" That is an unusual breakfast ." she responded .

" Well, not just unusual but actually very hard to get through the process . "

And I went on to explain it to her

All the trials and tribulations

all the hopes and failures

the frustrations and lack of success

and there had been MANY more of those than I write here

so I re-countered all of them to her .

It seemed that after a while she  decided to get up and get dressed while listening.

I continued explaining my frustrations to her , the anticipations, the failures

my ever mounting salmon bills , the empty piles of tins growing by the back door

my dwindling bank account

my frustration at never feeling salmonly satisfied

She decided to go for  an early morning walk as I explained it all to her

No problem , I followed along  explaining  my  fishy frustrations

I asked why , is it some karmic curse, some secret aversion

that my unconscious causes me to self sabotage ?

Then , strangely, she  got into her car and drove off !

Just like that !

Sometimes I think women are strange .

I suspect something might be wrong with them .

 It could have been so ...

 

[Apech]

But instead it was

 

[Taomeow]

Tragedy upon tragedy.   Salmon is apparently dangerous!  I already knew they named it after salmonella, but I had no idea there's other perils hiding in that fish!    

 

Speaking of dangerous foods:

Once upon a time I had a summertime romance.  He was working during the day while I was on vacation, and I spent my daytime hours foraging for wild mushrooms which were abundant in that location.  On my last vacation day I cooked a large skillet of the choicest, chiefly boletus mushrooms, and brought it to the farewell party he and his friends were throwing for me.  He was taking pictures of me the whole time while the romance was going on, dozens of them, and was supposed to mail them to me once processed (that was the era before smartphones, photos were physical.)  I never got any mail and never heard from him again.  Which left me with a lifelong unanswered question:

did he just decide that what happens during the summer stays in the summer, or

did I kill him and/or some of/all of his friends by inadvertently letting a death cap slip into my mushroom harvest?  

 

     

[old3bob]

 

High in mercury also.  Btw one wouldn't think high mountain lake trout would be high in mercury but some of it is because of airborne particles of mercury from coal fired powerplants accumulate there and its toxicity does not degrade over time.