Didn't you consider that maybe John used lousy bacon for this project? It's good to have some way of getting rid of lousy bacon; taping it to cats is an ok idea.
Huh. Somehow in the earlier discussion of Scalzi's wife's altercation, I'd missed the fact that he's an SF writer. I've read some of his stuff, the name just didn't trigger it for me.
Because I tell myself I can wait--it just turns out I'm wrong. Authors like Charlie Stross, S.M. Stirling, and few others are on "Suck it up and buy it cuz you know you can't wait list."
Baen authors are in a weird zone, because I tend to buy their e-book version rather than shell out for the hardcover.
Huh. Guess that's never been a problem for me since most of my reading material is fairly old so more readily available in paperback than hardcover anyway. When recently there have been a few new books I wanted to read, it was an exciting treat to be able to purchase them brand-new and in hardcover.
But come on! This is pertaining insufficiently to cured pork. You're the Chopper, surely you have some insight into the intersection of felinity and baconity!
I am leary of combining semisolids (e.g., bacon fat) and cat fur. I once put a blob of toothpaste on a cat's tail, thinking he would lick it off and it would be funny (gimme a break, I was 6). Instead, he had a matted clump of yuck until he died 10 years later.
Also, I have an 8.5 pound pork belly curing in a mix of salt, brown sugar, and black pepper in my fridge right now. I can't wait to bust out the smoker I built this summer on this thing--although I need to spend part of the weekend finishing up the cold-smoking portion of the contraption.
7: I hope you didn't just compare black women to animals.
I have some good local pork in the freezer, along with a couple of unopened cartons of ice cream I'm going to have to throw out b/c the neighbors across the way aren't home. Sad.
Is Kosher parmesan an impossibility? This would be news to me. Though I could definitely see there being no such thing currently available. (Excluding from consideration Kraft parmesan, which is Kosher but is not parmesan, and other frozen grated products some of which are Kosher, which vary in their resemblance to parmesan along a scale from "a little bit like" to "not at all like".)
You know what I ate last night that was really tasty? open-faced sandwich with a lot of parmesan sliced very thinly ("a lot" of parmesan being much smaller quantity than "a lot" of many other things) and honey. Mmmm.
See this page: "Hard cheeses, however, are made from milk and rennet, an animal product, and the kashrut of such cheeses is a matter of debate in the religious Jewish community."
But no one actually uses rennet for any cheeses anymore. Rennet was the original source for the enzyme chymosin. But in the early 90s the gene for chymosin was inserted into a yeast, so now the enzyme can be produced in industrial quantities using vats of GM yeast.
I would use trayf myownself - it's phonetic and I've seen it spelled that way many times.
I would assume some kosher northern Italian cheeses exist, since enough Jews live in the far north (next to Switzerland) to have their own dialects.
I would assume it would depend on whether you using intensely orthodox, orthodox or conservative standards to determine whether or not hard cheese was kosher. The real problem, I would think, would be that most Italian Parmesean production tends to be highly localized, and not necessarily amenable to adjusting for kosher standards of production.
Having thought that far, I googled kosher parmesean and came up with this and ....AHA. Touchdown!.
's from France tho. They've got a whole section! Groovy.
I'd be surprised if the majority of artisanal cheeses made in Europe are made using enzymes derived GM yeast.
Checking, I found an article that says in the UK 90% of cheese is made with chymosin from GM yeast. I suspect the figures will be lower in France and Italy.
42: Sorry I was being US-centric. Here we are so GM crazy that it only made sense to assume that GM chymosin had totally displaced chymosin from rennet.
Although actually the Whole Foods web page suggests that only 50% of chymosin comes from trangenics. The remaining 50% could either be from animals or, at least for soft cheeses, non GM microbes.
I wish this stuff were better labeled. I'd avoid animal chymosin if I had the choice.
If the artisanal gruyère produced at the Château de Gruyère, about which I still dream and of which I cannot seem to be able to buy a decent simulacrum at any price in this damned country, uses GM yeast instead of rennet I will eat my hat. The crap "made in Switzerland" Emmanthal they sell to us US rubes, maybe. "Genuine Swiss Cheese," probably.
I have a similar reaction to Clown: I want to hate on everything involved in that article, but I actually do very much like me some perfectionist espresso (and NYC has a lot more assish coffee than I'd expected). The only thing left to hate on--besides the insufferable NYT writer--is what I presume the espresso costs.
I liked all the description of weird sciencey stuff--like putting exactly 30 pounds of pressure when tamping the espresso, but, zOMG baristas have tattoos. Sacré bleu!
NYC has a lot more assish coffee than I'd expected
Oren's Daily Roast is very good, or at least the product served at their Grand Central Station branch is, so I assume the Upper West Side stuff would be similar. (A parallel belief about the TriBeCa Ceci-Cela based on the Spring St. branch* did not hold up; but hope springs.) I drink only brewed coffee so don't know anything about their espresso-based beverages.
*And if you're on Spring St. with any frequency, Ceci Cela has really excellent coffee.
I like that the "latte art" picture is of the most beginner-ish design going.
A guy I knew in college works at Joe, which goes unmentioned in the article, but which he seems to think is second only to Intelligentsia in Chicago for awesomeness in all things coffee.
This is the thread where we talk about the best adveristing jingles-cum-folk songs ever? Good.
If from work you come home late
Rolling in waits at the gate
Smile and bribe her with Nugrape
Then you'll sneak through in good shape
I got your ice cold Nugrape
The Oren's on the Upper West didn't particularly impress me, although I'll admit that I've really enjoyed the coffee I've had earlier in the morning at other Oren's locations. (Caveat: for me, brewed coffee should taste as close to Peet's as possible.)
Hey Chopper, here's an anecdote you might appreciate: This evening we were having lamb chops for dinner. The young'un: "Dad, how come lambs have to be killed?" Me: "Well we could not eat them if they were still alive." She: "I don't want lambs to get killed." Me, thinking: Hm -- a budding vegetarian! Who'da thunk it? She: "I want to kill pigs!"
Especially Australian bacon.
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 10:13 PM
Seems like a waste of good bacon. Now that bacon is probably all fur-ridden. He should have taped a picture of bacon to the cat instead.
Posted by M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 10:15 PM
Or bacon tape.
Posted by Stanley | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 10:21 PM
Cats!
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 10:24 PM
Maybe the post should be titled "How to get weiner to like bacon"?
Posted by M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 10:27 PM
That's a pretty tolerant cat.
Posted by bitchphd | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 10:27 PM
6: I bet cats get so sick of statements like that. It's like telling an African-American that she's articulate.
Posted by M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 10:28 PM
How on earth did he get the cat to sit still?
Posted by Cala | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 10:47 PM
2: Eh wot?
Posted by Steve | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 10:51 PM
In college, my cob-logger Froz and I had a cat named Protein.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 11:14 PM
Did you tape bacon to it?
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 09-14-06 11:14 PM
Seems like a waste of good bacon
Didn't you consider that maybe John used lousy bacon for this project? It's good to have some way of getting rid of lousy bacon; taping it to cats is an ok idea.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 4:02 AM
No tape involved, but here's some bacon on a goat.
Posted by shpx.ohfu | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 6:14 AM
Someone needs to write a short story based on the photo in 13.
Posted by mrh | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 6:28 AM
Huh. Somehow in the earlier discussion of Scalzi's wife's altercation, I'd missed the fact that he's an SF writer. I've read some of his stuff, the name just didn't trigger it for me.
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 7:37 AM
Yeah, Scalzi quickly graduated to my "will buy in hardcover 2 months after release, because no I can't wait" after Old Man's War.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 7:51 AM
"will buy in hardcover 2 months after release, because no I can't wait"
So you can wait 2 months but cannot wait for it to come out in paperback? I'm not getting it.... If you like it so much why wait the 2 months?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 7:57 AM
Because I tell myself I can wait--it just turns out I'm wrong. Authors like Charlie Stross, S.M. Stirling, and few others are on "Suck it up and buy it cuz you know you can't wait list."
Baen authors are in a weird zone, because I tend to buy their e-book version rather than shell out for the hardcover.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:04 AM
Huh. Guess that's never been a problem for me since most of my reading material is fairly old so more readily available in paperback than hardcover anyway. When recently there have been a few new books I wanted to read, it was an exciting treat to be able to purchase them brand-new and in hardcover.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:17 AM
But come on! This is pertaining insufficiently to cured pork. You're the Chopper, surely you have some insight into the intersection of felinity and baconity!
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:19 AM
Based on the post itself, I thought we were going to see a recipe for Bacon Lettuce and Cat sandwiches.
Posted by Dantheman | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:20 AM
I am leary of combining semisolids (e.g., bacon fat) and cat fur. I once put a blob of toothpaste on a cat's tail, thinking he would lick it off and it would be funny (gimme a break, I was 6). Instead, he had a matted clump of yuck until he died 10 years later.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:23 AM
Also, I have an 8.5 pound pork belly curing in a mix of salt, brown sugar, and black pepper in my fridge right now. I can't wait to bust out the smoker I built this summer on this thing--although I need to spend part of the weekend finishing up the cold-smoking portion of the contraption.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:26 AM
Isn't bacon fat a colloid?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:27 AM
Now that's trafe.
Posted by baa | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:35 AM
By the way Chopper, have you got a contingency plan for getting rid of lousy bacon? Does it involve small mammals?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:35 AM
I have an 8.5 pound pork belly
Me too, but I plan to start exercising soon.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:36 AM
re: 27
8.5lbs? You're not even trying...
Posted by nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 8:49 AM
7: I hope you didn't just compare black women to animals.
I have some good local pork in the freezer, along with a couple of unopened cartons of ice cream I'm going to have to throw out b/c the neighbors across the way aren't home. Sad.
Posted by bitchphd | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:04 AM
Now that's trafe.
Wait till I tell you about my backfat, shrimp, and parmesan blood sausage.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:07 AM
Is Kosher parmesan an impossibility? This would be news to me. Though I could definitely see there being no such thing currently available. (Excluding from consideration Kraft parmesan, which is Kosher but is not parmesan, and other frozen grated products some of which are Kosher, which vary in their resemblance to parmesan along a scale from "a little bit like" to "not at all like".)
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:11 AM
You know what I ate last night that was really tasty? open-faced sandwich with a lot of parmesan sliced very thinly ("a lot" of parmesan being much smaller quantity than "a lot" of many other things) and honey. Mmmm.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:15 AM
Ah I see. Something to do with the presence of rennet in the dairy product.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:18 AM
Parmesan is trafe?
Posted by baa | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:18 AM
Also, possible Apostropher motto: "like Kryptonite to Kosher"
Posted by baa | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:20 AM
See this page: "Hard cheeses, however, are made from milk and rennet, an animal product, and the kashrut of such cheeses is a matter of debate in the religious Jewish community."
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:21 AM
Also, Google likes the spelling "traif" better than "trafe", and "treif" still better.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:24 AM
"treyf" is also a contender, just a bit behind "treif". "trayf" does about as well as "traif".
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:25 AM
You're not allowed to mix dairy and meat. I don't know about the stand-alone kosher status of parmesan cheese.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:42 AM
But no one actually uses rennet for any cheeses anymore. Rennet was the original source for the enzyme chymosin. But in the early 90s the gene for chymosin was inserted into a yeast, so now the enzyme can be produced in industrial quantities using vats of GM yeast.
Posted by rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:05 AM
I would use trayf myownself - it's phonetic and I've seen it spelled that way many times.
I would assume some kosher northern Italian cheeses exist, since enough Jews live in the far north (next to Switzerland) to have their own dialects.
I would assume it would depend on whether you using intensely orthodox, orthodox or conservative standards to determine whether or not hard cheese was kosher. The real problem, I would think, would be that most Italian Parmesean production tends to be highly localized, and not necessarily amenable to adjusting for kosher standards of production.
Having thought that far, I googled kosher parmesean and came up with this and ....AHA. Touchdown!.
's from France tho. They've got a whole section! Groovy.
max
['That's enough.']
Posted by max | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:06 AM
re: 40
I'd be surprised if the majority of artisanal cheeses made in Europe are made using enzymes derived GM yeast.
Checking, I found an article that says in the UK 90% of cheese is made with chymosin from GM yeast. I suspect the figures will be lower in France and Italy.
Posted by nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:10 AM
Wikipædia thinks "traditional cheese-makers in central Europe" still use calf rennet. Which would presumably include many makers of parmesan.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:11 AM
42: Sorry I was being US-centric. Here we are so GM crazy that it only made sense to assume that GM chymosin had totally displaced chymosin from rennet.
Although actually the Whole Foods web page suggests that only 50% of chymosin comes from trangenics. The remaining 50% could either be from animals or, at least for soft cheeses, non GM microbes.
I wish this stuff were better labeled. I'd avoid animal chymosin if I had the choice.
Posted by rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:16 AM
I know you like ligatures, Clownæ, but Wikipedia itself spells it with a simple "e".
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:16 AM
One of the articles I just found suggested that quite a lot of the 'rennit' these days comes from fungi as well as from GM yeast.
Posted by nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:18 AM
Does this article imply that the "fungi" are something other than yeast?
Posted by Cryptic Ned | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:20 AM
re: 47
Yes, it implies that. Since it discusses production from 'yeast' separately.
Posted by Anonymous | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:22 AM
48 was me.
Of course, I may be misreading it. It's possible all teh fungi species under discussion come under the broad 'yeast' heading.
Posted by nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:22 AM
45 -- When I use a word, it is spelled just as I choose to spell it, and no differently.
Posted by Humpty Dumpty | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:26 AM
re: 47 and 48
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus_niger
was the fungus in question. Which, the other wikipedia article didn't group as a 'yeast'.
Posted by nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:30 AM
If the artisanal gruyère produced at the Château de Gruyère, about which I still dream and of which I cannot seem to be able to buy a decent simulacrum at any price in this damned country, uses GM yeast instead of rennet I will eat my hat. The crap "made in Switzerland" Emmanthal they sell to us US rubes, maybe. "Genuine Swiss Cheese," probably.
Posted by Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:30 AM
Is your hat produced with GM yeast or calf stomachs?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:33 AM
or (with) calf stomachs
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:34 AM
It's woven of the grisly remains of a thousand straw men.
Posted by Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:41 AM
New Yorkers, have any of you tried any of these "artisanal coffee" shops? I may have to try the East Village one today.
Posted by washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:49 AM
The article linked in 56 is insufferable. The coffee might be very good though.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 10:56 AM
I have a similar reaction to Clown: I want to hate on everything involved in that article, but I actually do very much like me some perfectionist espresso (and NYC has a lot more assish coffee than I'd expected). The only thing left to hate on--besides the insufferable NYT writer--is what I presume the espresso costs.
Posted by Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:01 AM
55 is pwesome.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:04 AM
I liked all the description of weird sciencey stuff--like putting exactly 30 pounds of pressure when tamping the espresso, but, zOMG baristas have tattoos. Sacré bleu!
Posted by m. leblanc | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:07 AM
NYC has a lot more assish coffee than I'd expected
Oren's Daily Roast is very good, or at least the product served at their Grand Central Station branch is, so I assume the Upper West Side stuff would be similar. (A parallel belief about the TriBeCa Ceci-Cela based on the Spring St. branch* did not hold up; but hope springs.) I drink only brewed coffee so don't know anything about their espresso-based beverages.
*And if you're on Spring St. with any frequency, Ceci Cela has really excellent coffee.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:08 AM
I like that the "latte art" picture is of the most beginner-ish design going.
A guy I knew in college works at Joe, which goes unmentioned in the article, but which he seems to think is second only to Intelligentsia in Chicago for awesomeness in all things coffee.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:14 AM
Joe.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:15 AM
This is the thread where we talk about the best adveristing jingles-cum-folk songs ever? Good.
If from work you come home late
Rolling in waits at the gate
Smile and bribe her with Nugrape
Then you'll sneak through in good shape
I got your ice cold Nugrape
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:19 AM
Rolling pin waits at the gate. Fuck. What's green, hangs on the wall, and sings?
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:20 AM
Your mom?
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:22 AM
I don't know, what?
Posted by standpipe b | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:22 AM
Uh.... a herring?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:22 AM
Wolfson!
Posted by standpipe b | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:23 AM
You guys, we've gotta take this on the road. We could be huge!
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:24 AM
Your mom is huge.
Posted by standpipe b | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:24 AM
In Japan.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:25 AM
Hey Wolfson, is "Big in Japan" by Big Black? I'm suddenly pretty sure it's not. But who?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:27 AM
73: Alphaville. I wish I had seen that particular mistake before Big Black's reunion show last weekend.
Posted by Steve | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:30 AM
Ah -- there are a couple of songs with that title. I'm pretty sure this
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:31 AM
There's also a track by that name by Tom Waits.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:31 AM
There's one by Tom Waits too.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:31 AM
Fuckin HTML.
Ah -- there are a couple of songs with that title. I'm pretty sure thisis the one I'm thinking of, but I never heard of Guano Apes. So either I heard a cover or I heard the song without hearing the band name.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:31 AM
Fine, then.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:32 AM
Guano Apes is a pretty great band name.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:32 AM
The Oren's on the Upper West didn't particularly impress me, although I'll admit that I've really enjoyed the coffee I've had earlier in the morning at other Oren's locations. (Caveat: for me, brewed coffee should taste as close to Peet's as possible.)
Posted by Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:34 AM
I hear Wolfson's herring makes really good coffee.
Posted by ac | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:37 AM
But a herring doesn't make coffee!
Posted by standpipe b | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:38 AM
Wolfson's herring does indeed make good coffee, but Baltic herring makes better.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:40 AM
Hel-loooo, joke in progress!
Posted by standpipe b | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:41 AM
His herring farms have produced some amazing results. Even dsquared agrees. There's a quartet of them who get together to play Haydn.
Posted by ac | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:41 AM
Poor Standpipe, everybody's walkin' all over his/her joke.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:45 AM
Excuse me, overcome by foundling hospital humor.
Posted by ac | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:47 AM
Herring don't make coffee; fruit flies don't make bananas.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:51 AM
I think I told it wrong.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:51 AM
Relatedly.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:52 AM
Steve Miller had the best take on that, I think.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 11:55 AM
Related.
Posted by Cryptic Ned | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 12:05 PM
Clownæ, that looks like a cover of the Alphaville song. If you have iTunes, try this link.
Posted by Steve | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 12:17 PM
There was a Big Black reunion? Damn
Well, I guess they only played four songs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Black
Posted by rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 12:30 PM
This next song is about your fucked up dirty little back alley of a country.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 12:46 PM
How it goes.
Posted by slolernr | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 1:03 PM
Hey Chopper, here's an anecdote you might appreciate: This evening we were having lamb chops for dinner. The young'un: "Dad, how come lambs have to be killed?" Me: "Well we could not eat them if they were still alive." She: "I don't want lambs to get killed." Me, thinking: Hm -- a budding vegetarian! Who'da thunk it? She: "I want to kill pigs!"
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 7:08 PM
(All quotes except the last are close paraphrases. The last is verbatim.)
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 7:09 PM
100!
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 7:15 PM
Clownae--nice.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 09-15-06 9:19 PM