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09:02
@Jolenealaska I'll take 2
Did you put anything in with the steak while it sous-vided?
a sprig of rosemary would be nice
Not this time, just because I wanted the first one to be "pure", just to see what it was was like. Next time, I will.
I didn't even salt it until I had taken a bite.
I couldn't believe I was eating chuck.
I wonder how brisket would behave
you could have steak the size of a saddle
It's supposed to be one of the best cuts for sous-vide.
09:08
well, what are you waiting for?!
having money to buy a brisket!
I'm too broke to pay attention.
you don't have to buy a whole brisket
Actually, that's the only way I've ever seen it, but literally I'm too broke. I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to have milk for the rest of the month.
really? exact opposite here - I've never seen a whole one
you'd have to order it from the butcher
My book says that there really isn't much point in sous-vide for tender steak cuts (ribeye, fillet, sirloin) but that brisket is great.
09:13
I normally buy it in 1-1.5kg cuts
normally £8-10
$15
That's funny - actually, it comes in two parts here, the point cut and the flat cut.
but no smaller than that.
Here it will normally be whole behind the counter, and rolled
the butcher will then cut you off a 'slice'
I've never seen it rolled :)
I always unroll it
I think I'll do one for christmas
maybe a single turkey breast alongside
Pot roast it on lots of onion so they confit
Most commonly it's served as corned beef. There's also a southern dish made with coca-cola and onions that's really common.
09:17
brine the turkey and roast that normally
it's a great joint for roasting - chuck it in a dutch oven and forget about it for 4 hours
no worrying if it's going to be tough
makes good leftovers
good beefy taste
Did you see the turkey porchetta I posted?
from serious eats?
I'm not even crazy about turkey, but that looks great.
it does look good
more work than I'm thinking of doing though tbh
as it is I'm scratching my head working out the timings
I have 2 ovens, one of which will be occupied for 4-5 hours doing the brisket
that leaves one oven for Yorkshires, potatoes, pigs-in-blankets, and turkey
Buy a sous-vide circulator and be done with it!
09:24
heh, if only
but, that reminds me - I do have a slow cooker
I could slow-cook the brisket instead and free up the top oven
I was just going to say, there's your brisket.
Want the coke recipe?
no thanks :)
I'll just do it with onions and stock
Dr Pepper is popular too.
hmmm, sear it first or sear it after
Slow cooking, I always do first.
(sear, that is)
As a matter of fact, that chuck was the first time I think I have ever seared cooked meat.
09:29
there's a case to be made for reverse searing
even without sous-vide
I always reverse-sear when I grill
anyhoo, that should be good
10-12 hours in the slow cooker
eating at 2, that's either a late night, or I need to dig out one of my timer sockets
you know what shocks/amazes/horrifies me when I watch Man v Food or Diners, Drive Ins and Dives and the like?
the amount of places that use dried garlic and dried onion
I've never understood eating so early on holidays.
@Jolenealaska it gives your body a chance to digest 3.5kg of meat before bed time
and chocolate
and crisps
I don't even usually get hungry until 6pm or so.
what, at all?
you don't eat lunch?
at all
not usually
09:41
good grief
I usually eat once a day
I'd be literally faint with hunger if I didn't have breakfast and lunch
I'm starving by the time I get home
what are you, a boa constrictor?
i never eat breakfast. I drink a glass of milk when I get up.
tut
I don't have a big breakfast, but I always have either a bowl of cereal or a couple of slices of toast
lunch at noon
I have tried to get into the habit of eating a banana or something within a few hours of getting up, but I just have no interest in food until I've been up for several hours.
09:45
i wonder if your odd sleep pattern plays a part in that
perhaps if you slept 11-7 or whatever every day, you'd get into more of a meal pattern as well
but as you sleep 3-9/2-10/5-3, your body doesn't know what the hell is going on :)
I doubt it, cause when I worked my sleep patterns were consistent (unusual, cause I worked nights) I was the same way about food.
hmm
then I'm going with my boa constrictor hypothesis
that must be it :)
it would explain your reticulated markings too
and scales
That reminds me, don't forget those videos :)
09:52
they're on my list
Noun: 積ん読 (hiragana つんどく, romaji tsundoku)
  1. (informal) the act of leaving a book unread after buying it, typically piled up together with other such unread books...
I just watched a documentary on Myra Hindley. I learned (among other things) that hers was the first murder trail after the death penalty was abolished. Jesus.
yeah, not a pleasant story
Nope, I find those stories strangely fascinating though.
I guess I just wonder how.
I read the most recent parole hearing transcripts of Charles Manson. That was actually kind of funny.
Talk about just going through the motions!
His lawyer actually said, "He hasn't killed anyone this week?"
oh fine
christ, buy the man a house
Another thing I watched today was 60 Minutes. They had a segment on insurance not paying for mental health treatment.
In recent years I've heard a number of people say, "Health care is not a right".
And it isn't in this country. Certainly it isn't guaranteed by the constitution or any law.
But we would never knowingly let someone diagnosed with Ebola walk the streets, right?
It's a public health thing.
10:08
Indeed
I still do not comprehend the American attitude toward healthcare
This 'fuck you, I got mine' attitude, as if the fact that you can't afford insurance somehow makes you unworthy of it
Obviously the only reason you haven't got insurance is that you're too lazy or stupid to get a good enough job to afford it, so fuck you
This, in what is supposedly the most Christian nation on Earth
Adam Lanza (the shooter in Newtown) was turned down for continued mental health treatment because the coverage had run out.
Yes, you might get people who 'sponge' off the system. You'll get many more who genuinely need help, who will get it thanks to you paying your 'health tax'
And Obama is reviled, mostly because of "Obamacare".
indeed
I just don't get it
Instead of fixing what is broken about the legislation, the prevailing attitude is that "healthcare isn't a right, if you can't afford it, you shouldn't get it".
10:15
you could say that about water
or food
Yes, our water system is pure socialism.
on a lighter note, I've just made a Roast Timer in Excel
choose your meat, choose your start time, and it will tell you what time you need to start cooking all your accompaniments
Ha! Do you ever work at work?
This is vital
Here's a shocker....
Mine was the very first avatar to wear a hat this season.
2 minutes after the hour
you can't see it here though. I remember that from last year too.
it took a day or two for hats to show in chat.
Poo bear has already had a change of hats.
10:22
I can see it
Weird, I can't.
maybe I need to leave and come back.
It will just be caching your old one
I don't see a hat at all.
Not that it matters, it's just odd
FWIW, it looks ridiculous :P
I think that's the point.
The funniest looking user in hats is Sourd'oh :)
10:34
I remain aloof, as befits the Lord of Andunië
his little knees and feet poking out.
do you guys have Christmas crackers?
when your avatar is random geometric pattern, hats make even less sense. Nope. Cookies, yes, but not crackers.
Do you do Christmas stockings?
yes, though usually in bags
are you aware of what i mean by a christmas cracker though?
so you hang bags, not socks?
maybe not? like a noisemaker?
10:39
@Jolenealaska we don't hang anything
Well
we as in my family don't
I should say, people can and do have an actual cloth stocking
we happen to just use bags
when we were little my parents would sneak in and put them at the end of the bed under the covers, so we'd wake up and feel them with our feet
then when we were older they'd put them outside our door so we could grab them and return to bed to open them
Ours stay attached to the mantle. Hmm... I've never thought of it before, but I wonder what families without fireplaces do? And how does Santa get in??
So what is a Christmas cracker?
inside is a mini-firework. two people grasp either end, and pull
the firework goes SNAP!
nestled inside is a paper crown, a joke, and a little toy or gizmo
Yes, that was my guess, but I have never seen one that had anything to do with Christmas.
the hats look like this
I HATE THEM
they are the most annoying, stupid idea known to man
10:46
they look stupid, they are deeply tickly, and there is an enforced expectation to wear them or you're not being 'fun'
and yes, that is me bottom right
@Jolenealaska what context have you seen them in? They're Christmas crackers!
I hate that "you're not fun if you don't ____" attitude. But I probably wouldn't mind the silly hats.
I was just asking myself that.
I'm not sure where/when I've ever seen them, maybe birthday parties? Definitely not Christmas.
@Jolenealaska "If you save yourself for marriage you're a bore, if you don't save yourself for marriage you're a whore-ibble person, if you don't have a drink then you're a prude, but they'll call you a drunk as soon as you down the first one."
good old Kacey
10:51
Kacey Musgraves
Does the UK have a tooth fairy?
my reasons for liking her having nothing to do with how good she looks in hot pants
@Jolenealaska yes
I had never heard of her and I had no idea you were quoting anything :)
her rates are extortionate these days
@Jolenealaska :)
she's pretty good
how much?
10:54
at least £1
in my day it was 20p
My last tooth earned $0.25.
probably only because a dime would be too hard to find.
This guy is great
Hi @rumtscho
hi @Jolenealaska
Winter bash is on, yuu huu!
@rumtscho hey rumi
humbug, humbug I say!
10:56
hi @ElendilTheTall
Did you see my croissants?
@Jolenealaska yes, they looked great
I know, Poo bear got SA's first hat.
did you see my baguettes, did you, did you?!
huh, huh?!
@ElendilTheTall I did. And yes, I drooled.
11:05
@ElendilTheTall gotta be the teacher's pet
@Jolenealaska you're just jealous cos rumi didn't drool on your croissants :P
there's nothing like a rumi-drool baguette
lends a certain piquancy
Would you do me a favor and check the end of my answer here? Is the Cook's Country link paywalled? I can't tell 'cause I subscribe.
3
A: Low Hassle Kneading Free Doughs

JolenealaskaYeah, how about biscuit dough? That's a common way to do a quick and easy chicken pot pie. It might be a little tricky to actually enclose the curry in the biscuit dough, but it should be doable. For reference, here are a couple of "pot pie" recipes that use biscuit dough on top of the filling:...

yes, it is
11:19
shoot, OK
more than one way to skin a cat
@Jolenealaska cheese grater has always been my go-to method
s@b, I do that too.
I have forgotten life before Google. It must have been hell.
Yahoo
Altavista
11:34
Like I said, hell.
Wow, full frontal, adult male nudity on YouTube - I've never seen that before. (on YouTube that is)
well, when you search for 'full frontal adult male nudity' it's not surprising...
I knew you were going to say that
This is the most graphic (and I'm not talking about the nudity) true crime documentary I've ever seen. I've never even heard of this guy. I'm going to watch the rest of it, but I need a break.
Robert Andrew "Bob" Berdella (January 31, 1949 – October 8, 1992) was an American serial killer in Kansas City, Missouri who raped, tortured and killed at least six men between 1984 and 1987. == Early life == Berdella was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio in 1949, and was raised Catholic, though he stopped attending church services when he was a teenager. His father worked as a die setter for the Ford Motor Company and his mother was a homemaker. When he was seven years old his brother, Daniel, was born. He did very well in school, though teachers found him difficult to teach and he was bullied by other...
you really like those light hearted shows don't you
the kind that make you forget your troubles? O.o
Like I said earlier, I don't understand myself why I watch these. This one is particularly disturbing.
11:49
i suggest you search for 'puppies' on youtube and queue up a playlist
That's the other thing I watch all the time. It's always puppies and kittens or serial killers.
that is somewhat disturbing
<backs away>
but I always turn away if I think the scene is going to hurt a pet.
personally I prefer my television, cinema and reading to be as escapist as possible
I can't stand that. Or kids.
11:52
real life is fucked up enough
Maybe there is something to the thought of, "well, at least my life isn't this messed up"
but I've always read true crime.
I think I read Helter Skelter in junior high.
I've never read any true crime
I've read very few books in general set in 'real life', apart from science books
I would expect you to not read true crime, but it surprises me that you don't read much non-fiction.
in fact, I'm struggling to recall any 'real life' fiction I've ever read
@Jolenealaska I do read non-fiction, or I did when I had the time
but mainly popular science
Just out of curiosity, did you read the Harry Potter series?
12:00
I've read it, yes
Once. I've never felt the need to re-read them
popular science and history, now that I think about my bookshelves
a little travel
I've read a couple of 'the classics', but otherwise I usually give up through boredom a chapter or two in
Me neither, but I enjoyed them thoroughly the first time around. I even stood in line outside the bookstore for one of them.
To Kill A Mockingbird was released on Kindle not long ago. Think I read about 15 pages
I don't have enough reading time to waste it on stuff that bores me to death
Mrs The Tall likes Harry Potter. I just read them when she was finished with them
I won't continue reading something I'm not enjoying either.
I don't understand why anyone would if there is no grade involved.
There are plenty of other books.
12:04
I read fantasy and sci-fi almost exclusively, which makes me sound like an uber-geek
so be it!
in terms of fiction, that is
i go through phases of fiction and non-fiction
where I will read one or the other for a few weeks, then feel like a change
"That's enough book-learnin', I need me some elves and swords!"
yep :)
Speaking of elves and swords, I left my party in a lurch in Midkemia. I haven't been back for days.
i thought Potter got better as the series went on, but it suffered from it's childish roots
when you have the big bad dark lord calling people 'muggles', it tends to break the mood somewhat
Ha, I never thought of it that way, but it is kind of a silly word.
I had no particular interest in the books until the Christian zealots started making a fuss that these books were going to send turn our children into satanists. I thought they were going to be picture books.
@ElendilTheTall hey, I'm an experienced drooler. I catch it before it falls on your food.
12:14
I was shocked to find that they (it actually, the first one) was a real book. My first thought was, "your 10 year old is reading a two inch thick book, and you've got a problem?"
cute :)
I'll never forget one of the letters to the editor.
yeah, wouldn't want them to be disturbed. Better off reading the Bible, no rape, genocide, torture or misogyny in there
@ElendilTheTall it's a matter of taste. I like To kill a mockingbird. The character is very believable, and also lovable in a small vagabund kind of way. I'm in the middle of listening to the audiobook, but I don't listen frequently, so it will be a while until I can tell you if I like the end.
The guy said "In the world of these books, there is no good or evil, only power"
@rumtscho oh, I agree totally. i'm just saying I found it boring, not that it's an objectively boring book
I'm with ol' JRRT I'm afraid: I dislike allegory in all its forms
I used to be very much speculative fiction oriented
would read anything if it had spaceships or elves
but I notice a certain change in my tastes in the last few years
there is way too much crap released, which has some cardboardlike elves pasted onto a boring story, and the crowd goes wild
I still love a good science fiction or fantasy book, but I've become very choosy
12:21
How about Harry Potter, @rumtscho?
@Jolenealaska I used to love it as a teenager. Now, I'd say it's worth reading, but not great.
It's so funny you say "as a teenager" referring to Harry Potter!
@rumtscho likewise: thank Manwë for Kindle samples
I'm 200 years old.
@Jolenealaska yeah, she's showing us up
I wasn't even a teenager then
12:23
I like the idea of a children's book which is not afraid to kill characters for real. And also Snape - a rare well done villain in a world of schematic "I set kittens on fire because you have to hate me" villains
Snape was brilliant.
I remember just after he killed Dumbledore, that I just knew he was going to still be a "good guy", but for the life of me, I could not figure out how.
That is soooo rare.
Yes, another thing I like about Harry Potter: it's not predictable.
That's what I hate most in books, being predictable. Like Avatar (the movie). You read/watch the first five minutes and you know how it's going to end, and the general plot line to get there.
And I don't mean that it's a bad thing in itself that I know how it's going to end, it's bad that I could tell it myself without needing to read it for that.
Yep, I learned as a kid to not say the predictions out loud, 'cause people get annoyed.
One of my favorite books of all times is A chronicle of a death foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It starts telling you that the main character dies at the end. But it's still so perfectly written, because its value doesn't depend on the cheap surprise of somebody dying.
I must admit I have a case of Marquez worship similar to your Hugo one, btw :)
@rumtscho have you read the A Song of Ice and Fire books?
12:31
@ElendilTheTall Back when they weren't finished
George RR Martin is the deadliest author in history
@rumtscho they still aren't
I don't know if I will enjoy them as much nowadays.
@ElendilTheTall Oh, I didn't know that. Anyway, I read them around 2000.
What I want to read again - and think it must be finished by now - is the story of the Malazan.
I don't even know what it is about, I know I used to love it, and was disappointed that it's not complete.
@rumtscho oh yes, I've read a couple
That's the one thing I hate about not having cable, I've never seen Game of Thrones.
good stuff
@Jolenealaska HBO are launching their own on-demand service soon
12:33
@Jolenealaska Call me a snob, but I never like seeing movies after books I've read
They are missing so much of the good stuff, and never manage to make the heroes look like they should :)
Game of Thrones is very well done though
Aragorn looking like Jesus was a major problem for me
@rumtscho Do not get me started on the LotR movies
I've heard, I'm looking forward to it. @rumtscho, that's funny. If a movie looks good, and it's based on a book I haven't read, I have to read the book first.
not unless you want this chat to be filled with invective for the next 3 days
12:36
I'm probably a bit unfair to the filmmakers, because I don't care about things which are important in a film.
I saw the first 10 minutes of LotR, and I haven't seen any more of any of them.
@Jolenealaska good, keep it that way if you value the books at all
it's not the stuff they missed out, it's the stuff they changed
I never notice how convincingly an actor is acting. And majestic scenes are OK, but somehow lack the majesty of actually being there. Special effects - I hate them. Especially when they are fast, I just get sensory overload.
It doesn't even really have to do with the books, I just found the movie to be a snoozefest.
So, I miss the stuff people watch films for. I keep expecting the stuff I get from a book, like the character's personal interpretation of an event, and I'm always always disappointed.
This has changed a bit lately. Last winter, I watched American hustle. A film I can wholeheartedly recommend
12:38
what really annoys me is how there will be many people for whom the movies will be it - the definitive, final article. Who will never bother to read the books, or worse, actually prefer the films to the books.
Some of the things I liked about it were the camerawork, soundtrack and wardrobe.
But also the plot was great.
In short, it was a movie where everything was subtly but perfectly designed. Every detail just fit.
I've been enjoying this one so far:
Guess which part this is, by the way?
I don't care one way or another about effects, I don't even really notice them. I'm re-playing a computer game from 1993, cause I've never enjoyed a game more.
I can tell within a page or two whether I will like a book - this one was a one-pager
@ElendilTheTall Yes, it happens. It bothers me too, and not just in a LOTR context. There are so many great books the world doesn't care about. But as soon as somebody reuses the plot for an ugly movie, a mass hysteria starts.
@ElendilTheTall Interesting. I'm not so quick to decide.
Maybe I'm too lenient with bad books.
Sanderson, I know the name. But can't connect it to a book.
Isn't he the one who had to write Wheel of Time to the end?
12:44
yes, he did
One of the many, many movie adaptations of Les Miserables really messed up a character, I can't even think about that movie getting spitting mad. My blood pressure is rising as I type this.
he has about 3 or 4 series on the go at any one time - he switches between them to avoid 'burning out'
@ElendilTheTall good approach
Hugo would spin in his grave!
I also liked what Ilf and Petrov did
They wrote their comical novels together as a team
and they would meet and tell each other their new ideas
and whenever it happened that both had arrived at an idea independently, they immediately dropped it
12:46
Do you know of Robert B. Parker?
because they saw it as a sign that this turn would follow systematically from the existing text, and therefore be boringly predictable for the readers.
@Jolenealaska no, is he a writer?
Yep, a modern mystery writer, very fluff, a lot of fun.
He finished a book started by another author, Raymond Chandler.
Form the 40s maybe?
(I'd have to look)
I know Chandler
truly amazing. it is absolutely seamless.
Poodle Springs is the book.
I must admit I don't have the eye for sentence structure other people have, despite the amounts I have read. I just don't see the trees for the forest.
12:51
I've never known another "collaboration" like it.
For example, I had a coworker at the university. She once got to peer review an anonymously submitted article, and she immidiately knew who has written it, based on the sentence style
That is exactly (part of) what makes it so amazing. Chandler had a unique turn of phrase.
but I don't have this, so I think I wouldn't appreciate such a seamless forthwriting
Oh, I notice I have to go to university. Bye!
Cya rummi.
@rumtscho lol, bye
12:57
Goodness, time flies. I'm been vaguely sleepy all day, now it's 4 am and I am ready to take on the world.
I have that effect on people
I'm just one inspiring sunuvvabitch

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