Bonus

Hmm, well I’ll be.

*Bungs

I’ll put this over here, with the rest of the fire.

NSFV

(Not Safe For Vegans)

*Plastic tree

Do you want them to eat that rich food and those heavy sauces?!

I am uniquely qualified to inform you the year 1997 was vastly greater than the year 2000.

After holiday dinners, my grandpa would bust out the faux-leather bound Polaroid, mount it to a tripod and tell us all to stop moving, “It’s not a movie camera!” Then he’d be amazed it was almost ready 5 seconds later. Every single time.

I remember when a flash was essentially an exploding bulb. Before me, they made a pop sound. In the 70s, there were cubes that rotated so you’d get multiple uses, IIRC. The real pros later had strobes but also, just bouncing the light off the ceiling and such cut down on the red eye which was really about light shooting directly into the eyes. That direct light also created harsh shadows and washed out features.

True. Seems to be their approach is to get folks hooked and then try to sell them stuff. Not all the features are available for free, of course.

Yes. I hadn’t looked at any of this stuff in a long time. Mullvad is something I’m definitely going to check out as I’m seeing it recommended in a lot of comments. Thank you.

All good points. Thank you.

haha, I guess I don’t have wonder about crossing that bridge. Thanks.

I’m checking out the free version of Proton VPN now after paying for PIN for a while. Haven’t used it to torrent or anything yet. Just trying to run most the time now for increased security in this new era. Are unpaid versions less secure? I’m not so much worried about the price. Just checking out something different.

Spell-checker

A rush, innit?

Nice baguette with a good crust, don’t want it to crush while cutting. You can do this picnic style without even toasting really.

Cut off just the hard end of the garlic clove that makes contact with the ground, just a few mm thick. Lay the blade flat on remaining clove and give it a smack. This will release the clove from the skin. Rub on toast directly. If it’s split open a bit, rather than completely whole, it will release the essential (read in Jacques Pepin accent) oils more effectively as will rubbing the inside of the clove rather than the outside of the clove. Dubyakay’s description of the toast acting like a grater is perfect.

If you melt that garlic in the butter it will extract the flavor really well. Eating raw garlic directly can be a bit much. One cheat is to press like you say and add to the butter and just zap it in a microwave for 30 seconds or whatever works for the quantity you need. This makes a great dipping sauce which is also perfect with steamed crab. Another simple sauce for that is just wine, vinegar, and chopped shallots, onions, or the like. Fresh ground black pepper is great on either of those pairings.

Yes, exactly. I love that description.

Not a fan of garlic powder but love fresh clove of garlic on toasted bread. Toast that over an open flame, drizzle on a little olive oil, rub on garlic, then the same with fresh tomato, a pinch of salt and pepper. Learned that one in Barcelona - Pa Amb Tomàquet. Add thin slices of dried cheese, uber umami flavor. Manchego in Spain but this could very well be done in other similar regions with Parmesan or the like.

Drink of water after artichoke or broccoli. Not sure what’s going on there but I’m not the first person to wonder. Maybe it’s a reaction to iron?