@tnp OMG GRIBENES. Ahem.
My mom and grandma only ever used vegetable oil for cooking latkes and their latkes were amazing. (My dad, later, used a lot of improbable ingredients: frozen, shredded hash browns that he thawed, a handful of pancake batter, olive oil, and for some reason, his were BETTER than my mom/grandma's.)
I can only imagine the apotheosis of perfection if they'd used schmaltz. I could weep real tears.
Speaking of slow cooker recipes, this is my sort of copycat of Honey Baked Ham's White Bean Soup. Prep is about five minutes if I'm in a hurry, ten if I'm really studying the beans to make sure every one is perfect.
Easy Bean Soup
1 (one) Slow cooker
1/2 lb Great Northern Beans, unsoaked
1 quart of unsalted vegetable stock
A big handful of baby carrots
Another big handful of frozen diced onions. (To taste) Maybe a third of a cup?
A good palmful of parsley, crushed, and about half that amount of marjoram, also crushed. More or less.
Two cloves of garlic, slightly squished
Some good shakes of celery salt
1 smoked sausage, like kielbasa, sliced into discs and cut the discs in half. (Optional, if you're a vegan or vegetarian.)
Pick through your beans and rinse them off and dump them in your slow cooker. Dump in the carrots, onions, garlic and spices. Pour in the veg stock, and add water if it doesn't look like there's enough in there. (The beans are going to drink a lot, feel free to add more later.)
Put on high. Cook all day. Test it when you think it's done, (to make sure the beans are cooked instead of crunchy) and then add salt to taste. Toss in as much sausage as you want to eat, about fifteen minutes before you eat it. (Don't cook it with the sausage in all day, the flavor will go into the soup and the sausage will be flavorless and weirdly textured.)
Chow down. I like buttered bread on the side.
(All measurements for spices are approximate. If I'm using garlic powder rather than actual garlic, I'll add three times as much as I think I need and sometimes I'll add onion powder in addition to onions.)
@derp I'm now giggling a LOT, thank you!
@greenflashlight I miss those fried noodles that used to be on the table with duck sauce. (DUCK SAUCE. I miss duck sauce!) And I mean the wide ones, not the ones that look like thinner ramen. The ones made from strips of won ton wrappers that are deep fried.
My ears are perking up and I am HERE for buying some soap!
@jennkryst It was the music as they were leaving Caladan that did it for me. Holy cow.
I read Dune at 13, having just watched the Lynch movie for the first time. And I've loved it ever since.
On the other hand, I read the sequels right after and really don't remember them other than going, "Meh." I reread Dune every year or two, but I don't read the sequels.
Thank you for letting us do this. And thank you again for the Pomplamoose. You're almost there!
@derp Yeah, but some of us have known you for a while and would like to be able to throw five or ten bucks your way, because you exist and make people happy.
Shit, I feel like I owe you just for introducing me to Pomplamoose.
@clarity Did you know that Chrome and Firefox both have Highlight extensions that can be set up for just one website?
I have numerous friends that I've never met in person. And all but two of my RL friends that I'm still close to, I met online first. And a lot of my online friends, I've met in person maybe once or twice, but that doesn't make them any less friends.
@mietze It's not just you. Me, too, lately.
@arkandel I read the books this week, then watched the adaptation. I'm honestly impressed by how good it was.
(Ok, let's be honest. I slammed through the books as fast as I could, promptly bought a few more, then binged the show over two days and am probably about to re-watch it.)
@redbird DUDE! Good to see you! (Former Prudence and Jo @ The Reach, among other places.
@ganymede OOOO. I keep meaning to try Audible just for that, but that last half of 2020...I couldn't. I just couldn't. Not even for Sandman.
@tributary That's the one I love best and that loves me best. (There's one that's pennyroyal and...something, and I love it in the bottle, but on me it smells like zombie abortifacent.)
God, I miss BPAL parties.
I'd play hell out of this. (Also, if you haven't read Georgette Heyer's Regency romances, they're utterly brilliant for this concept. Faro's Daughter in particular deals with a society gaming hell.)
@mietze Just so you know, all your Friendsgiving peeps will be thinking about your household (and you) on that day and missing you mightily. You are intensely loved.
I never got to meet you as Esteban, but I have to tell you, your legend lives on. A LOT of people still playing miss you more than I can begin to tell you.