Miami Vice made it clear that undercover work is a matter of attitude, not complexion. Michael Mann wouldn't lie to me.
I refuse to condone the use of "Miami Vice", without any qualifiers, to refer to the movie rather than the TV show. The movie is a footnote, dammit.
Also, I think that's one thing I could actually do. My problem with telling or living lies is always that I can't trust myself to accurately depict how the person I'm pretending to be (e.g. me in an alternate universe where I don't already know what my birthday present is going to be) would act. However, I have a lot of experience being "me without wires strapped to my body". I could forget they were there.
The movie is a footnote, dammit.
I was referring to the show, but I liked the movie enough to see it multiple times in the theater and to buy both DVDs. Michael Mann's obsessions have remained consistent enough that the movie has the poetry that the show, subject to '80s cop show budgetary and thematic constraints, looked towards.
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Totally off topic, but I cannot stop listening to this song: Sara Bareilles' Love Song
My god, it is so. fucking. catchy.
Also, she is very cute. That is all. You may now return to your previously scheduled stickiness.
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I think that you should consider changing the name of the blog to "Unfbecks," at least until the hiatus is over.
I majored in Performance and I don't think I could wear a wire and get away with it. Act? Sure, I can do that well enough to get a B-. Lie? Not at all. I am a terrible liar. I don't think I could mind-over-matter myself into thinking of it as a performance or forgetting it's there. Instead I imagine I'd act a lot like Ernie from Twin Peaks, getting so nervous I'd sweat and sweat until the recorder shorted out and gave me away.
6 - Oh crap. I'm totally fucked if I develop a latex allergy. How would I know?
What's the problem with a latex allergy? There are alternatives for anything latex.
10: I don't know how they test it, but I had a friend who had a violent reaction --- 10 minutes of medical tape on her back left big red weals.
They do sell latex-free bandaids. Check if yours are, or not. If yours aren',t you could do an easy self test I guess, by putting one of each kind on for a while ....
11 - There are alternatives but, given that I'm not allowed to take contraceptive hormones, that would make the birth control issue even more complicated.
oh, and what LB said. Their are alternatives (sometimes expensive though --- $100/month on condoms really sucks)
13: Oh, there are latex free condoms. They're just more expensive. I suspect you can get a better deal on them than just looking around a big store though.
Huh. I remember the polyurethane condoms as pricier than latex, but not crazy. Are they that bad?
16:; I remember $3 a piece or so. But I didn't really look into a best deal (should have)
From what I've heard, they feel a bit slimy and disgusting, too. Never had to try them myself, however.
Yeah, but I was also thinking about what if I ever wanted to switch to a diaphragm or something. Condoms forever would suck.
that would make the birth control issue even more complicated
Just leave it in God's hands, Becks. You'll get what you deserve.
18: No, they were fine.
I hope this isn't too cringe inducing, but I know of another case where the woman found out about a latex allergy because of latex content in her episiotomy stitches. Of course you *expect* a certain amount of pain after, so it took her way, way too long to get it looked at.
ouch.
Not that I'm looking to switch soon, what with The Story Of Newt.
18: YMMV. I talk them up, because I always kind of hated condoms, and then found I didn't mind polyurethane at all.
Becks, for what it's worth, it's probably a good idea to figure this out. Lot's of allergies like that can ramp up pretty quickly with repeat exposures. If you know, at least you know what to avoid before it become really freaking obvious.
Invest in a vasectomy for your partner. They are reversible.
Invest in a vasectomy for your partner. They are reversible.
Now there's an awkward first-date conversation.
And I thought they were maybe reversible, but don't make plans on that basis. No?
Invest in a vasectomy for your partner.
All of them. Put it in your online dating profile.
The best way to test your latex sensitivity is to rent one of these.
30: Of course ... that way you can get a bulk discount.
31: please don't link to the bme pain olympics.
There is, of course, a Seinfeld episode about this.
28: A friend of mine got one as a wedding present for his bride-to-be and said that he has to go to the doctor every year (or whatever) and have his sperm count checked to make sure it hasn't in fact reversed on its own. Yeeks.
28 to 17. You can turn them inside out and use the clean side one more time. Like socks.
Of course, if you would just date older, divorced men, they probably already had the vasectomy. (This is in no way an attempt to get you to sleep with any of the older men here aka Apo or me)
You can turn them inside out and use the clean side one more time. Like socks.
Just be sure to wash the new outside first.
35: Someone I know was a post tubal ligation baby. Oops.
Back to Becks' issue, I'm pretty sure you can get silicone diaphragms.
aka Apo or me
I have tangible evidence of my fully functioning vas deferens at my Flickr page. Or probably mine, anyhow.
The milkman always knocks twice, apo.
I'm pretty sure you can get silicone diaphragms.
But what if the Colombians frisk you?
41: That tangible evidence is precisely why we all assumed you'd have the doctors put a double knot in the vans deferens, just to be sure.
20: Natural family planning, the only contraceptive method also suitable for making a baby.
35: shivbunny's cousin has five children. He had a vasectomy ("my nutless cousin") and he had it checked, and his sperm count was still too high, so the vasectomy ended up being between kids four and five.
OT: Bill Clinton is a great big fathead.
I made like a million comments here yesterday because I was procrastinating a big project I had to do.
Late last night I started to work on the project, this morning I wrote a draft, the end is in sight, and NOW I FEEL LIKE A MILLION BUCKS!
Actually getting work done. What a rare and cool thing. Happens once every month or two for me, but that seems to keep me employed.
I hope someone finds 47 inspirational.
No, but I'm developing a settled personal dislike for you, if that helps.
Hey, has everybody notice the Rebirth of Poor?
In light of 17 and 14 and basic mathematics, is anyone else jealous of how much soup biscuit gets?
Another slice of cake, Dr. Freud?
I guess in context, soup biscuit could merely be estimating how much Becks gets.
52: I had the same reaction, but I wasn't going to speak up, because I assumed all the rest of y'all considered it normal.
Apparently some people don't pay attention to their supposed friends' blogs. Oh, but when a laissez-faire economist posts something, then it's noteworthy.
That soupb is so slatternormative.
Oh, but when a laissez-faire economist posts something, then it's noteworthy.
Objection as to "economist."
(And no, I'm not trying to start/restart anything. Just noting for the record.)
Ooooh. Look what the letter carrier brought: precious CDs from Ben! Thanks Ben!
Also, in case anyone thought he might be related to d^2, he sent me a check too.
61: Was the check for something that occurred between you two in Sri Lanka?
The typewriter and the green eye shades don't come (cough!) cheap.
There was nothing between us at all when the event in question occurred, not even the thinnest layer of air.
Of course, if a man had a latex allergy, the story could include the phrase "freeing from his boxer shorts his plaid erection"
Nothing comes between w-lfs-n and his Calvin Klein jeans.
Edwardian porn about computers and typewriters. That could work. I would want pneumatic tubes too.
I would want pneumatic tubes too.
That, I think, goes regardless of the era.
52/53: erm, it was a good few months. Does that help?
I would want pneumatic tubes too.
Who wouldn't?
"Freeing from his boxer shorts the tartan organ which showed evidence of pneumatic activity" ... well, I suppose it might excite a seminarian
"Releasing from his pugilist's underclothes his tartan member she joined her breath to the Holy Spirit's and conspired it to stand and rise &c."
It just occurred to me that "stand and rise" is hysteron proteron.
52: In light of 17 and 14 and basic mathematics, is anyone else jealous of how much soup biscuit gets?
I did notice that, and mostly thought: Good god, wouldn't you find an alternative to condoms at that point?
Also, I was not aware that people even considered diaphragms any more; thought they were outdated or something.
As you were.
26: Invest in a vasectomy for your partner. They are reversible.
Now there's an awkward first-date conversation.
In my experience men that aren't ready to discuss reversible vasectomies on the first date tend to less sexually adventurous and are probably not even worth pursuing.
Also, I was not aware that people even considered diaphragms any more; thought they were outdated or something.
I never would have considered them if I hadn't had trouble with the Pill and its likes but, well, that's pretty much the alternative. Even most IUDs have hormones in them these days.
Or the sponge but if you're going to go that route, might as well get a diaphragm, I guess. (And does that contain latex?)
Not all of them -- I've got a hormone-free one. Seriously, aside from slightly crampier, slightly heavier periods, it's great. If you can't use hormonal birth control, I'd doctor-shop to find someone who'll prescribe one.
No, but I'm developing a settled personal dislike for you, if that helps.
Since I got very little sleep last night and am flying on caffeine, I took that very seriously when I first saw it and I was like -- LB hates me!
Then I realized it was probably sort of a joke.
If this is more inspirational: I'm a really terrible procrastinator (worse than you from the sound of things). Lost quite a good job and was miserable a number of years because of it. I'm only now learning how to handle it well. I think I'm older than you too.
Switching jobs is a great first step, or at least it was for me. Good luck.
We've been considering a diaphragm because my body is beginning to be unhappy with hormonal bc, and we don't care for condoms. It's not as effective, but we're kind of at the point where having a baby would upend our lives without being a horrible disaster.
we're kind of at the point where having a baby would upend our lives without being a horrible disaster.
Heh. I'll start crocheting something.
(And 82 is perfectly accurate; I was totally kidding.)
85: Not trying! Not trying! Just not in the bcp+condom backup phase any more.
The one great benefit of procrastination is how good you feel when you can finally stop banging your head against the wall. Maybe that accounts for part of its addictive quality.
I think coitus interruptus can actually work as BC, but it has a bad reputation second only to the rhythm method.
83, 85: That's pretty much the story of my existence.
FAM! FAM! (That's the take-your-temperature and check-your-cervical-fluid method.) Takes some serious paying attention to things, though, so you've gotta be the type who can do that.
I'm just yanking your chain, on the assumption that the stage you describe tends to be a shortlived one. Once the possibility wouldn't be all that much of a disaster, there's a powerful temptation to say "Wotthehell" and go for it.
I've mentioned that the marriage prep classes we had to do to get married in the Church and placate my family insisted that with perfect use, "naturally family planning" was as effective as the pill. Which it is. But if you compare typical use, NFP is barely more effective than no birth control at all.
Which means that, essentially, they're counting nearly every pregnancy resulting from NFP as a sign of improper use. Like, you had sex. shivbunny started squeezing my hand so I wouldn't point this out in the middle of the peaceful evening session with wine and snacks.
I know FAM and how to monitor cervical mucus and do pay attention to it (knowing when I'm more likely to be fertile) but using that alone would scare the hell out of me. Plus, Mother Nature has done a great job of making sure that the times you're most fertile correspond with the times you most want to get it on.
I never would have considered them if I hadn't had trouble with the Pill and its likes but, well, that's pretty much the alternative. Even most IUDs have hormones in them these days.
Even aside from the possible hormone-lacedness of an IUD, I'm not a big fan of the notion of semi-permanently installed devices. Diaphragms are pretty simple and effective, and I imagine there are latex-free ones.
All of this calls for a longer-term relationship, presumably.
On preview, Cala, I'm not sure a diaphragm used properly is that much of a risk.
Why should you refrain from pointing that out? Surely any instructor with some intellectual honesty to his name would be able to furnish you with the criteria for proper vs. improper use, thereby circumventing your point, or at least engage you in a conversation about it.
91: It doesn't help that most of my college friends are now moving from the newlywed stage to 'omg I'm going to be a dad' stage. A common response around here to 'guess what, X and Y are going to have a baby!!!!' is 'you can't have one.'
96: Because it was eleven o'clock at night after a day long sessions of pointlessness (described as 'this would have been really helpful if I had never talked to you before we decided to get married), and a debate would have meant we had to sit there another hour.
Also, there is no intellectual honesty here. I'd have to look up the exact stats, but doing nothing at all is a 75% chance of not getting pregnant, and typically using NFP is something like 80%.
Fertility awareness method, Ben.
Is NFP is the 'rhythm method' or the counting thing or whatever? Not so useful.
75: Ordinarily, I'd agree but latex allergy + really bad reaction to BCP ....
Plus, Mother Nature has done a great job of making sure that the times you're most fertile correspond with the times you most want to get it on.
Yeah, so you still end up having to use an alternative BC method then. Bringing you back to your original problem.
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I did an alumni interview of an applicant to my alma mater today. Am I a bad person for thinking ever-so-slightly less of him for answering the question "Who's your favorite author?" with "Grisham"?
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mrh: no, not at all. You are a good person for not laughing (if, indeed, you managed it)
I know FAM and how to monitor cervical mucus and do pay attention to it (knowing when I'm more likely to be fertile) but using that alone would scare the hell out of me.
I'd be pretty worried if just checking the cervical fluid, but that in corroboration with the temperature shifts and a couple of other secondary signs make me feel pretty secure.
103: yellow card for misuse of the "||" symbol, but I would say no, though I could imagine a case being made for extenuating circumstances.
Am I a bad person for thinking ever-so-slightly less of him for answering the question "Who's your favorite author?" with "Grisham"?
Depends on whether you recommended him for admission.
104 was harsh, I read that as interviewing an alumni.
Blume, given what I know of NFP, it's the same thing as FAM, with the temp & the mucus & all that. Just a Catholic acronym. It does sound like a useful way of predicting fertility for when you want to get pregnant.
103: As long as it's just slightly. I'd feel bad if a bright kid didn't get in because he didn't know, not having been coached, that he was supposed to say 'Until recently I preferred Dostoevsky, but I read mostly Austen these days.' I may be overly cynical here, though, and I would have a harder time making the exception for 'Ayn Rand changed my life.'
The scenes with Ms. Bareilles sitting at the piano look annoyingly fake.
I'd be pretty worried if just checking the cervical fluid
That's why I let Jiffy Lube take care of all that for me.
This is a terrible jinx of myself, but I probably would never get pregnant unless I tried really hard to do so. At any rate, nothing is worth being on the pill. Jesus Christ I hated that.
That's why I let Jiffy Lube take care of all that for me.
Apo, I figured you'd be opening an inspection station.
It also depends on what the person wants to study, of course. EECS type likes Grisham, whatever. Prospective comparative litterateur, problem.
he was supposed to say [...] but I read mostly Austen these days
The applicant was a guy, Cala.
The pill used to be really awesome for me, and lately my body just seems unhappy with the hormones.
I probably would never get pregnant unless I tried really hard to do so.
I'm trying, and failing, to come up with a possible evidentiary basis for this. I mean, you might be not-very-fertile, which is what it sounds like you're saying here, but how could you know?
115: Good point. Still, the vaguely are-you-the-right-kind-of-people lines of question bug me.
116: Sexist.
I don't think that song's catchy at all. It wasn't one of the four songs I recommended when I wrote my scathing review of her album.
119: Infertility seems like the sort of thing that is unlikely to run in families. Or at least unlikely to run very far.
And yes, I realize you're not talking about literal infertility, but the line was too good to pass up.
Apo, I figured you'd be opening an inspection station.
You've probably driven that thing 3000 miles since the last you brought it in, Becks. You should come see me.
Sexist.
Yeah, that's been established. I'm still right.
Also, criticizing an 18yearold for not having found anyone better to read in his spare time than Grisham?!? Those are some pretty high standards. What would you have done if he didn't read novels at all?
NOTE: I mean people here criticizing the applicant, not the person who interviewed him, who merely contemplated doing so.
103,110: I went through a judgment/remorse cycle last year when on move-in day I noticed that my daughter's roommate's books included The Da Vinci Code and The Prophet. Had a negative Kneejerk reaction but relented the next day: I should be pleased that any 18-year-old is reading, owning books, attending college ... period, end of story - grumpy, old a-holes not entitled to broadcast an opinion on the content of the reading material.
Runs in the family.
I, on the other hand, get someone pregnant damn near every time I drop my guard. There's an experiment in here somewhere.
I know far more people having trouble getting pregnant than who had unplanned pregnancies.
I realize this is probably highly skewed by my age, social class, and the fact that friends who are having interventions to get pregnant are probably far more likely to tell you than friends who had interventions to get unpregnant.
110: Aha. Except that you have to abstain in the fertile period for the church's version, and can do something else for the non-churchy version.
There's an experiment in here somewhere.
If only we'd known about this before UnfoggeDCon.
Ach! Ze mother mouth slime ist rrripe for imprregnationn!
Still, the vaguely are-you-the-right-kind-of-people lines of question bug me.
I'd buy that as an argument against looking down at someone's choice of genre, and allowances must be made for youth, but Grisham is just such God-awful crap even with all possible benefit of the doubt.
I read Star Wars novelizations as an 18-year-old. They weren't my favorite authors, and I never mistook them for literature, but I've always had a need for inane mind candy. Or to be reading something. I read the Wall Street Journal in the mornings as a little kid along with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Newsweek and Babysitter's Club and Sweet Valley Twins and my parents' Dr. Spock baby books and the Bible and Little Golden Books.
124: Dude, joking.
125, 127: I'd say pwned by Ned, except that I pwned the whole discussion in August.
Dude, I'm on oxycodone. Allowances must be made.
know far more people having trouble getting pregnant than who had unplanned pregnancies.
Really? Does that include "nervous because it should have happened already," or just people who actually needed a bit of help?
Dude, I'm on oxycodone. Allowances must be made.
You'll get ten dollars a week if you agree not to give any to your sisters.
Dude, I'm on oxycodone.
You lucky, lucky bastard. Also, this conversation is incomplete without this.
141: Minor surgery this morning to remove a benign tumor from my back. Pretty simple, but required general anaesthesia so I've spent most of the day feeling very dumb.
Thank you, apo. I haven't had a good dose of Alexyss in a while. Dick'll make you slap somebody.
143: They can beat ten dollars. But I don't really want to share.
know far more people having trouble getting pregnant than who had unplanned pregnancies.
I suspect it means that people think that getting pregnant is a lot more likely than it is, sans birth control. Which isn't to say that people shouldn't be very much concerned about unwanted pregnancy, of course.
[I accidentally posted this on an old thread, so am re-posting here where the action is.]
All right, liberal do-gooders, here's your chance to do some good *and* stick it to the shareholders* of a major corporation.
My employer offers a non-profit fellowship program. Eligible employees can take up to six months off to work for a non-profit, and the company pays them 20% of their salary and continues their benefits. The participants are generally young (24-29 y.o.), overeducated (Ivy League and the like), business savvy, and quantitatively inclined. Politically, they tend to be the vaguely left of center, but not flaming socialists. They are also accustomed to working their asses off night and day.
Anyone know any worthy organizations that could use a highly qualified, motivated employee for a meaningful short-term project? Post a comment expressing interest (and naming the organization, if you care to), and I will send you an e-mail to follow up. I will then post the contact information of in the database that our interested employees can peruse. N.B. I will need personal contacts at these organizations, not just the headquarters address.
*Why, you might ask, would a heartless corporation do something so public-spirited? A lot of our young employees have unfillfilled longings to do something worthwhile with their lives, and this program enables them to go off and get a taste of the poverty and frustration they will encounter in a non-profit career, so that they can tire of it and come back to their highly remunerative jobs with no questions asked.
I did an alumni interview of an applicant to my alma mater today. Am I a bad person for thinking ever-so-slightly less of him for answering the question "Who's your favorite author?" with "Grisham"?
Oddly enough, I did an alumni interview today as well. My candidate's favorite book was The Black Swan, so he must be smarter than mrh's.
Seriously, you do have to make allowances for HS seniors. I cringe when I think of my own taste in reading in those days.
Also, criticizing an 18yearold for not having found anyone better to read in his spare time than Grisham?!? Those are some pretty high standards. What would you have done if he didn't read novels at all?
I know, I know, hence the self-abnegation and guilt. The "who do you read?" was meant to get him started talking about his interests and to get a sense of his intellectual qualities. Still, I couldn't help but frown inside when, after Grisham, he went on to list Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, and, of course, Kurt Vonnegut.
Luckily for all involved, the opinion of the alumni interviewer is not weighted all that heavily.
worthy organizations that could use a highly qualified, motivated employee for a meaningful short-term project?
NORML! Short term projects are the only ones they can stay focussed on anyhow.
Seekrit commenter - I'd rather have this in its own thread. Can I post it as an Ask The Mineshaft? Or post a separate thread but put the question in the comments?
after Grisham, he went on to list Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, and, of course, Kurt Vonnegut.
So it was like a `one of these is not like the others' sort of question then?
148: Then there or those of us who decided to try and then -- BAM! -- preggers. It worked this way twice and I still have not decided if that means we should have been much more worried about our super powers of fecundity when it would have been inconvenient.
Now we are just old, boring, and fixed. Like the dog.
I ask all my English classes on the first day to say who their favorite author is. These are English majors, most of them seniors. 90% say JK Rowling. The rest say Dostoyevsky or Burroughs. Maybe one in a hundred will say Woolf.
Huh. I was prescribed oxycodone once -- it did little for the actual pain and mostly just made me want to vomit. People who get something out of prescription narcotics irritate me. Much the way people like PGD irritate me by getting things accomplished.
Oh, also, going back to the diaphragm thing. Even if the latex doesn't bother you, the spermicide might. Worth testing out before you go through the hassle of getting fitted, etc.
I don't mean 156 to sound like I hate them for liking children's literature so much--it's a growing field in the academy--but by the time I was a senior, if I'd felt the only honest response to "favorite author" was a children's writer or a bestselling type, I would have at least qualified myself with something like "When I'm not reading for school, I like [Bestselling Author]."
My favorite student last semester admitted a few weeks into the class that he'd lied about his favorite author. He'd said Carroll because he saw him on the syllabus, but really, Alan Moore is his favorite, as he brings together his two primary interests, comic books and pornography. I beamed with pride.
Seems like after the first two or three students answered Rowling, the others would feel compelled to at least come up with a different name for appearance's sake.
It was written down in silence. I'm always shocked at how the things that seem most bizarre to me about their written responses in class are nearly uniform among them.
Probably looking at each other's papers.
My favorite student last semester admitted a few weeks into the class that he'd lied about his favorite author. He'd said Carroll because he saw him on the syllabus, but really, Alan Moore is his favorite, as he brings together his two primary interests, comic books and pornography. I beamed with pride.
I take it this student is not one of the super-religious living-with-parents ones.
I'm always shocked at how the things that seem most bizarre to me about their written responses in class are nearly uniform among them.
Can you give an example of one of these bizarre things?
163: Actually, he was indeed the most super-religious living-with-parents student in the class!
164: I wrote about this on my blog a few days ago. They all use the same odd, corporate adjectives to describe things they read, etc.
Everybody should read AWB's piece on her blog. Everybody! She's talking about her students, but it also applies to almost everyone in the media, almost all of the Democratic Party wonks, and a whole hell of a lot of ordinary people. And if pomos were talking about this kind of thing instead of whatever the hell it is that they do talk about, they might do some good in the world.
I think that my tastes have declined. In high school I was partial to Henry James and Evelyn Waugh. I'm trying to read Tolstoy right now and just read Aeschylus' Persians (in translation, I'm too lazy to slog through the Greek), but otherwise I was reading dumb stuff. I did read Claire Messud's The Emperor's Chidlren, but before that I think it was something like Rowling.
Seriously. I also recommended it to The Valve, which tends to get lost in the weeds occasionally..... not quite in the sense of all the goddamn time, but almost.
Much of the university rejects the possibility of communicating with non-elite students.
Hey White Bear, now that I see that you're online, what's the name of that vegetable cookbook you mentioned during the car trip back from UnfoggeDCon?
Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It's really good, and not just for vegetarians at all. It just provides a lot of good ingredient-based guides for vegetables and grains, with general info on how to buy, store, prepare, cook, and organize meals around whatever thing you happen to find looking good at the store. Then it offers four or five recipes for each ingredient, ranging from the simplest to the most elaborate. It really helped me learn how to cook more intuitively.
171: Great tip, AWB. I'm a carnivore to my deepest core, but I love good recipes for my garden veggies.
Seconding the recommendation for Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. When my roommate and I split up this household, it's one of the cookbooks I'll gift him with. That and Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I see my roommate turning to those most often.
All the Greens restaurant related cookbooks are great -- Madison's as well as Annie Somerville's -- but Madison's become more accessible, I think.
That sounds like an intriguing book, especially if it shows how recipes can build on each other. A couple of my friends can cook if they have a good, precise recipe to follow, but no idea what to do if, e.g., one of the ingredients is missing or if they don't have time for the whole recipe.
Deborah Madison is really good. I'd recommend any of her books, but like parsimon said some of the earlier ones are not as beginner-friendly as VCFE. She's serious that it's meant to be cooking that's for everyone, not just cooking for vegetarians, and I think she's successful in that goal.
Her The Savory Way is another favorite.
A couple of my friends can cook if they have a good, precise recipe to follow, but no idea what to do if, e.g., one of the ingredients is missing or if they don't have time for the whole recipe.
I'm not this kind of cook at all, and beyond my first year of cooking have always read cookbooks for ideas and inspiration and techniques more than for precise recipes. But I often get asked by cooks of the kind described above for the recipe to some dish I've made, and it's a frustrating experience for both of us because I can only give them the outlines of how I made it, not precise times and measures.
I admire Madison because she's so good at explaining how to cook even though I'm dead near certain she's not a precise recipe follower.
Madison often gives a sort of essay explanation of what's going on with the food before a recipe, along with a sidebar of suggestions for amendments, so she really covers her pedagogical bases for different types of cooks.
We are going to have to host an Unfogged Richmond meetup with lots of cooking.
177: Me too. I tend to look at recipes just to see what the ingredients are and a rough sense of the proportions, and then take it from there. But I have friends who would be okay if I said 'chop up exactly one onion and then sautee it' but would be confused if I said, "shoot, we only have 3/4lb of hamburger and the recipe calls for a pound."
Deborah Madison is superb, and Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone is really good for giving ideas for what to serve together, as well as being great for when you say, "I have some [vegetable X]. What the fuck to do with it?" And it has recipes for really simple things.
I second Emerson's endorsement of AWB's post on the subject of critical analysis in literature and politics and everything else.
I find myself wanting to offer a defense of AWB's students, though. At least, I want to entertain the idea that the urge to place literature in a world of consumers is one valid way of looking at literature.
Certainly, though, everthing that AWB says about the drawbacks of this approach is correct.
But ... I perceive a problem when generalizng AWB's approach to politicians and political media. How should we evaluate a politician who is trying to build a national majority?
Obama's choice to invoke Reagan today without vilifying Reagan just sucks, as a matter of content. On merit, I'm entirely with Edwards in his critical response. But I'm not the audience that Obama is speaking to. Is it wrong for me to want to cut Obama some slack on this, on the grounds that someone could correctly choose to sell progressive policy while appealing to the hagiography of a right-wing nut?
We are going to have to host an Unfogged Richmond meetup with lots of cooking.
Ooooh! I should do this for Chicago -- do any of the Chicago people cook?
great for when you say, "I have some [vegetable X]. What the fuck to do with it?"
Another cookbook that's great for that sort of thing: The Silver Spoon, Italy's version of The Joy of Cooking.
The English translation follows the Italian Il Cucchiaio D'Argento precisely: so much so that the vegetable section is organized in alphabetical order according to the Italian names of the vegetables.
someone could correctly choose to sell progressive policy while appealing to the hagiography of a right-wing nut?
If GWB could go around claiming to be following in the footsteps of Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy, then fuck yeah! The battle over Reagan's legacy is already lost. If you fight it overtly, you sound like the cranks who were still muttering in the 1970's about Roosevelt importing socialism. The best revenge the Left could take would be for President Obama to roll back Reagan's substantive accomplishments (e.g. his crushing of the unions) while appearing to sing his praises.
I tend to look at recipes just to see what the ingredients are and a rough sense of the proportions, and then take it from there
Same here, and while I'm comfortable learning that way, I wonder what I might gain by sticking to the letter for a while. I vaguely remember an anecdote about Alice Waters (UIRI) working her way through a cookbook by Elizabeth David (UIRI), and that seems like a great model to follow. But then I think, if I were to choose a single cookbook to cook all the way through, which would it be? (I'm leaning toward something by Marcella Hazan or James Peterson, but the thought of making such a commitment stops me cold.)
The cooks illustrated/americas test kitchen books are interesting for a more experimental cook learning, because they talk about versions of a dish and what they changed and why. Including when measures/ratios are very important, and when they aren't.
For veggie stuff I second the greens books, also one from `rebar' in canada. I've got a few good so-called ethnic books with lots of veggie content, too.
My first cookbook of my own was Rose Elliot's The Classic Vegetarian Cookbook, which isn't terribly big or expansive, but I learned a lot from it, and have made many of her recipes (for pie crust, curried potatoes, cashew-tomato paté en croute) so many times I haven't opened her book in years. There's a nice section in the back with basic-skill stuff, like béchamel and cleaning leeks.
When I was 16, my friend Julie and I made a dinner party for our friends out of that book. We had 12 people in dinner jackets and gowns, and my brother served the meal. Halfway through, there was a series of tornados that moved through and we were all stuck in the unfinished basement with my parents for hours. Ah, Rose Elliot.
Halfway through, there was a series of tornados . . .
At first I read that as "tournedos" and I was thinking, "vegetarian tournedos???? Cool!".
I generally agree with soup about Cook's Illustrated, although I also find their stuff kind of offputting too (primarily for aesthetic reasons, granted). For example, , if I recall correctly, in their "Best Recipe" for pesto, they state that handground probably tastes best, but of course nobody is going to go to all the trouble to use a mortar and pestle. Therefore they won't even try that and will just figure out how to make something acceptable with a blender. I always feel like shouting "But I'll go to all that trouble! And I'll like it!"
And a lot of their recipes seem to end up being kind of blandly standard too. Good solid sturdy versions of Lasagna and Brownies and Stroganoff, and basically foolproof, but lacking in real savor.
But then I think, if I were to choose a single cookbook to cook all the way through, which would it be? (I'm leaning toward something by Marcella Hazan or James Peterson, but the thought of making such a commitment stops me cold.)
I think Jesus and Jacques has a certain nice ring to it.
Me, I'd probably do Olney's Simple French Food (Peterson's French book is very good, but way too big for such a project), although I do like Elizabeth David too.
And a lot of their recipes seem to end up being kind of blandly standard too. Good solid sturdy versions of Lasagna and Brownies and Stroganoff, and basically foolproof, but lacking in real savor.
I hate to say it, because I know he's beloved, but that's how I feel about Bittman's book, too. I've never made anything from it that I liked as much as a different recipe for the same thing from somewhere else.
We are going to have to host an Unfogged Richmond meetup with lots of cooking.
I'm game, will. And with my beard (mostly) gone, you can eat my delicious cooking without fear of snarling your throat on my mane.
I wish I had a bigger kitchen. I love cooking, but I could use about six times the room I have now.
I need to get better at cooking greens, because for some reason I've completely lost my taste for salads (spinach, romaine, arugula all seem like a chore), and there is a limit to how many frozen peas and raw veggie platters (celery, carrots, cucumber, green pepper, sometimes tomatoes) a girl can eat. If anyone knows of a good guide to cooking things like bok choy & kale & broccoli rabe without turning them nasty, I'd be curious. (It may just be this cookbook mentioned upthread.)
I feel exactly the same way about Bitman, AWB. I think his books make pretty decent reference manuals, but his recipes don't move me much at all.
193: Easy! Blanche them for 2 minutes in very salty boiling water. Rinse them under cold water for a second, and then throw them into very hot olive oil (with a little garlic/shallot and pepper flakes?) until they're a doneness you like. Don't overcook them and eat them immediately.
Also, a little lemon juice or balsamic vinegar is your friend.
I tried with garlic and red pepper, and I ended up with very tough rabe even though I blanched them! Maybe I just need more practice; it's heartening to know I'm on the right track.
That's for kale and rabe, anyway. With bok choy I usually end up making fried rice (which ends up being about half veg and half rice, with egg in it). Mix equal amounts rice vinegar, brown sugar, and soy sauce, ideally with some hot bean paste, to make it all delicious and un-bitter.
Cala, my basic recipe is: wash the greens but don't dry them, and while you're doing that, heat up the skillet or pot with enough olive oil to coat it pretty generously, anywhere from medium to high heat depending on your style and preference (a lot of the cabbagey family stuff tasted good charred on high heat). Throw in the wet greens and cover, then chop up some garlic and throw that in and stir occasionally until the greens are wilted and cooked enough to your liking.
For something like bok choy, or kale or chard if it has big stems, I'll throw in the harder stem parts on the bottom and maybe add a splash of water, then put in the leaves and cook covered, so the harder parts cook more on the bottom of the pot while the leaves basically steam on top.
I've never been one to parboil greens before sauteing them, as is recommended in many many cookbooks, and everybody, even picky people, seems to love my greens. And I think this method produces much much superior results to just boiling greens.
Also, sometimes I'll add in some sliced mushrooms around the same time as the garlic. Sometime soy sauce too, depending on the orientation of the dinner.
Tough rabe is usually a sign of overcooking. Did it turn yellowish at all? It's tenderest when it's bright bluish-green from heat.
Also, a little lemon juice or balsamic vinegar is your friend.
Very true.
And I just remembered that another way I sometimes do it is to saute onions or shallots in a pot and then throw in the greens and cover. Here again the onions cook down to lushness while the greens basically steam on top until I finally stir them all up together.
Also, I usually drizzle a little good olive oil on the greens just before eating them.
Some greens, such as rabe, are tougher than others anyway. Cutting it into thinner and smaller pieces helps.
It was very bright bluey-green. Maybe I needed balsamic vinegar or something.
The funny thing is that I can tell if I genuinely like a food because I no longer care about making it the right way when cooking for myself. Most cabbagey/greeny-type things I'm pretty careful about because I really fear sitting in front of, for example, an entire plate of mushy brussels sprouts. I only like them if they're perfectly prepared.
Same with eggs, too, actually. I watched my mom eat a couple of under-cooked overeasy eggs last week and was sick just sitting across the table from it. I only eat fried eggs at home, lest some uncareful hand over- or under-cook them.
189/194: I agree on both counts.
I wasn't suggesting at all that C.I. books are all you would need, just that you can get some insight as to why stuff works the way it does --- something that a lot of books are short on.
I find a lot of there stuff, as you say, solidly bland. But it's not a bad starting place.
And another thing that goes well with greens, especially the cabbage-family ones: nuts. Especially walnuts. Throw in a handful of coarsely chopped walnuts towards the end: teh yum!
205: Comity! Comity Illustrated!
Pinenuts! I haven't bought any in ages, but I used to eat them with almost everything. It was a phase. I even made some pinenut brittle, which is better than you'd imagine.
mmmm pinenuts.
we make pesto often, so tend to have them around. nice to throw into things.
I've never been one to parboil greens before sauteing them, as is recommended in many many cookbooks, and everybody, even picky people, seems to love my greens. And I think this method produces much much superior results to just boiling greens.
I'm in this camp as well. I sweat and/or saute them. No parboiling.
Assuming you've cut out the stems of the tougher greens, like kale, chard or bok choy -- cut them out in a v-pattern -- you can treat the leaves almost like spinach as an ingredient. I've made great omelets, or tarts, with sauteed/wilted kale or chard.
You can also throw these greens into soups toward the very end. Though bok choy I put in a different category altogether.
ok, i must sleep before all this talk of food wakes me up more. 'night.
For brussels sprouts, I often slice them in halves (or quarters for big ones) and follow the same method as above, with just a little added water and a somewhat longer cooking time. They don't boil so much as steam down into softness in the covered pot. They never come out mushy.
And sometimes I chop up a good tomato and let that cook down while I'm slicing the sprouts. Then throw them in, with a tiny amount of extra water if necessary, and let them cook down in the tomato juice. This works really well with plain old cabbage too. About a teaspoon or so of mustard seeds added to the hot oil before anything else goes in is also good with any of the cabbage family.
I love the idea of pinenut brittle. Also, it's fun to say. Try it!
Yeah, pinenuts can be a great addition too!
I'm off to bed too now. Eat your greens, everyone.
(heresy)
You can make pretty good pesto with walnuts, too. Less expensive. Not quite the same, but different.
(/heresy)
213: mrh, you should search on John & Belle's blog for her recipe for pumpkin seed brittle. Super delicious!
Did I mention I was going to bed?
I have so much leek to eat. They had three-foot-long white parts and were as thick as my wrist, and I bought two. Frittata, quiche, soup, etc., etc. Yum, though.
Sicilian pesto (with tomatoes) is also very good, and can be made with almonds. Kids love it.
215: Only heresy to those married to a false notion of "Teh Authentic". Italians and surrounding cousins use a variety of nuts to make a variety of pesto-like sauces, and with herbs other than basil too. And even if it were heresy, ground walnut n' basil sauce is delicious if done well, so the Inquisitors can suck it.
Did I mention I was going to bed?
I've got some huge leeks too, but I have some lovely sorrely to go with, not to mention some nice-looking potatoes, so I'm okay with that.
Goodnight all.
Oh, absolutely, potato-leek soup, a giant pot. And a leek type vegetable stock, freeze a bunch for the future. (Sorry, I tend to sympathize with having tons of something to work with.)
I made a potato and leek soup that was wonderful. Mmm, creamy soup.
And even if it were heresy, ground walnut n' basil sauce is delicious if done well
These words engraved.
Matt F made a delicious tart with a pine nut crust from the French Laundry cookbook. Recipe here.
OMG. I can't really read that without tearing up, Becks. I'm all emotional now. Going to bed.
Oops! Sorry - that site doesn't have the recipe. Recipe here in PDF.
When I was a little kid I used the word "leak" to mean "penis." This makes several of the recent comments in this thread hilarious.
Also, piñon nuts (the local variety of pinenuts) are delicious. I once got my mom piñon nut fudge from The Candy Lady (who also seems to sell piñon nut brittle, though I've never had it) for her birthday. Excellent.
When I was a little kid I used the word "leak" to mean "penis." This makes several of the recent comments in this thread hilarious.
That's awesome. My little-kid word for it was "dinkleberry" (which, yeah, I know, means something else, too). Any recipes for Dinkleberry Pie?
The origin, of course, was the phrase "take a leak" for "urinate," which my dad used to say all the time (it was his usual way of expressing the sentiment). I apparently misconstrued the referent of "leak" in the phrase, which seems like a natural enough thing for a little kid to do.
224: Matt F, you made something from that cookbook? Bravo. I bought it as a gift without looking at the recipes. After giving the gift and then looking at it with the recipient (my mother) we determined that no one would ever actually make the dishes described in it; they're just too complicated.
So, Matt, how about your veal stock (IYKWIM)?
It takes 20 hours to make. I started Monday, and I'm nearly done.
I'm in the non-parboiling camp as well, and if the stems are really thick you can cook them a bit first and then add the greens. a low-fat and possibly even tastier alternative to drizzling oil onto the cooked greens is to cook up some vinegar, white sugar, sliced chilis and chopped ginger and use that to top them (this is a quick version of the pepper vinegar people make and bottle in the south for this purpose). collard greens do need to cook longer and benefit from the traditional ham hock or whatever in there; sometimes the old ways are the best. some greens I ate tonight and really like are dou miao--more sprouts or shoots, I guess, but functionally like greens. the chinese label says they're 'pea sprouts.'
I'm game, will. And with my beard (mostly) gone, you can eat my delicious cooking without fear of snarling your throat on my mane.
Excellent. Now we have to convince M/tch, AWB, redfoxtail, parsimon, MattF and the others to come.
Alamedia would be a bonus.
Marcella Hazan and Paula Wolfert convinced me to parboil, then saute -- but this is a matter of storage convenience for me as much as anything else. Raw greens take up a lot of space in the fridge!
It takes 20 hours to make. I started Monday, and I'm nearly done.
Where do you find veal bones? That's one thing I can never seem to find in adequate quantities.
I substitute beef bones, but it's really not the same thing. (Truth be told, I use the tetra-pack beef stock most of the time, unless I'm making something special like a sauce espagnole where you would really taste it. Chicken stock, OTOH, I make all the time, because what else are you going to do with the chicken carcass?)
Incidentally, speaking of food, have you seen this thing? (Not safe for work, or anywhere else, really). Via TNH.
BR and I are very happy with ourselves that we cook stuff like steaks, basic veggies, chicken enchiladas, risotto, and Indian food from a packet.
You people are depressing me.
some greens I ate tonight and really like are dou miao--more sprouts or shoots, I guess, but functionally like greens. the chinese label says they're 'pea sprouts.'
Man, I love me some dou miao. And "pea shoots" is a better translation, they're the young leaves from (usually) snowpea plants. As they get bigger the leaves get fibrous and tough, but the young ones are tender and delicious.
And pepper vinegar on greens is indeed delicious. If you must boil greens, adding some fat (whether in the form of a ham hock or bacon or some olive oil or whatever) makes them end up more tender and of course better-tasting.
Marcella Hazan and Paula Wolfert convinced me to parboil, then saute -- but this is a matter of storage convenience for me as much as anything else.
I love Paula Wolfert's books, Marcella's a little less so, but I think non-parboiling tastes better. However, the less-storage-space-and-keeps-longer angle is definitely appealing.
I help cashier at a farm stand once a week and get "paid" in fresh (as in picked 30 minutes ago) produce and I sometimes feel tyrranized by all the great stuff I have in the fridge that needs cooking soon. I mean, I love having it, but it's a stern master too: "Come over to your house for dinner? I'd love to, but I just can't, I've got so much to cook!" I should invite people over for my cooking more often.
236: Pea sprouts are the yummiest, and rather hard to get.
You people are depressing me.
Greens always cheer me up, Will.
Greens always cheer me up
Marijuana greens?
191: My suspicion about Bittman's book (which I do use a lot) is that it's premised on having absurdly fresh, inherently delicious, perfect ingredients. If you have those, then of course the recipes taste good, but if you don't, then they're all a bit bland. Many of them just need a good shake of MSG, though.
it's premised on having absurdly fresh, inherently delicious, perfect ingredients. If you have those, then of course the recipes taste good, but if you don't, then they're all a bit bland.
By the same token, a lot of conventional vegetable recipes are a shame to use on really fresh, delicious ingredients. If you're going to go to the trouble of carefully selecting the freshest, best stuff from the farmer's market (or growing it yourself), it's nice to have recipes that really showcase the flavor.
She has beautifully strong hands, wonderful to look at when she's workin' that dough.
And she's so refreshingly affectless compared to most TV cooks. For example, she doesn't say "Mmmmmmmm!!!!!" enthusiastically and make an "I'm in heaven!" face when she samples things, she just plainly states "that tastes right to me" and keeps on with the recipe.
