Notes

It's funny how I can suspend my disbelief about most things in movies or on TV except when people in restaurants order "a beer" or "a whiskey". People never do this! They're always more specific.

TIL about Sardinian maggot cheese.  I...am not sure what else to say about that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu

TIL that blackstrap molasses is not the same as fancy molasses.  NOT AT ALL.

TIL about the Barbie Liberation Organization who, in 1993, bought up 300-500 talking Barbie and G.I. Joe dolls and switched their voice boxes so the Barbies would say things like "Vengeance is mine" and the G.I. Joes would say things like "The beach is the place for summer".  They then returned the dolls to the stores ("reverse shoplifting") to be sold to unsuspecting children. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie_Liberation_Organization

I'm currently in the process of corrupting Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce with the addition of a red bell pepper and I have to say I feel a little naughty.

I'm never excited to eat a Nanaimo bar, and yet they're always so good when I actually eat one.

I am not sure what to say about a political figure that points to actual riots happening under his own administration and uses them to criticize the guy who's running against him in the next election.

Pound cake batter is objectively the best batter.

pencils Kamala-Pence debate on his calendar

How did I wait this long to start watching Doom Patrol?

Very late to the party on this one but I finally made @alisoneroman 's anchovy shallot pasta and I am shocked at how mellow this stuff is, considering it has a shit ton of shallots and a whole jar of anchovies. Good stuff!

I will never understand three-seat sofas with two cushions.

TIL I learned that "boat", "bait", "bite", "bolt", and "bitter" are all cognates, from a PIE word meaning to strike or split (the connection with boat appears to be that one used to make them by hollowing out split tree trunks).

TIL that the "-ly" suffix commonly added to words in English to denote an adverb comes from the word "like" (still existing in the word "ladylike", for example). So "slowly" came from "slow-like" and "carefully" came from "careful-like" (possibly explaining the double "l").

TIL that "marshmallow" is actually a very old word, derived from the Old English word "mersc-mealwe" describing a "kind of mallow plant (Althea officinalis) which grows near salt marshes."

Am I the only one bothered by the term "black IPA"? Like, y'all know what the "P" stands for, right?

TIL from @englishhistpod that Wales and Welsh both come from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "foreigner", which is ironic given that the Welsh were the native Britons and the Anglo-Saxons were the invaders.  Also: the wall in Cornwall and the wal in walnut mean "foreign" as well!

Possibly unpopular opinion: Martinis do not taste very good.

Annoying how most recipes calling for condensed milk call for a 14 oz can, while the cans in Canada appear to be 300 ml (10 oz).

The pandemic will be over when I can eat in a crowded restaurant again.

I wonder about combining static site generators and photo galleries.  I know it's a thing, and yet it feels a bit off, especially when you have 10GB of photos.

I love how comiccon isn't cancelled, it's just "postponed" until next year.

Not a good week. https://xkcd.com/2293/

Hey everyone! I made roasted potatoes that were actually crispy!

Cats and boxes, amirite?