Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

... Duke Energy

Are they the guys with all those toxic coal ash retention ponds that were flooded after Hurricane Florence?

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Managed to get the book work sorted out. That’s about all . 

Goodnight,

Robert

[Gwiwer]

 

Quote

AndyID's photo

 

"Jesu, Joy of Todd Wilson in a quiet cathedral"  I wonder if anyone knows Todd.  Weird what selective screen capture throws up

 

Speaking of throwing up I was greeted upon my arrival from the House of Fun today by a large trail of cat effluent.  Mostly but not all from the sharp end.  An hour later and I am out of Vanish but the carpet is looking much better and Sir Paws of This House is curled up asleep with Dr. SWMBO as though nothing untoward has happened.  We don't think anything is amiss - it's an occupational hazard of being humans in a cat houeshold.  

 

ER is performing its alternative role as Emotional Rescue tonight as Former Neighbour (Upstairs) has called in tears.  She had been involved with this chap in the Yoo-Ess of Ayy; they hadn't met other than via a dating app and then Face Time and knew that they were unlikely to meet for many months to come.  But she felt emotionally invested and was devastated to receive some images of him disporting himself on the beach with another woman.  Not sent by him but by her.  With the clear message "get offa my man".  It seems he was trying to mess around behind his partner's back ...... 

 

There are words for people like that but most of them would get me a holiday from this site.  If you're going to be a rat don't do it with one of my best friends.  The Emotional Rescue package is in full swing.  I could be on and off the phone for some time.  

[tigerburnie]

Early night tonight..........................G'night all

[iL Dottore]

53 minutes ago, brianusa said:

Au contraire, these are /were some of the best places in our little upscale 'burg...

Good heavens, Brian. You say they are supposedly amongst the best places in town and they can’t properly make mash potato or offer any other type of potato other than fries? I’m astonished.

I referred earlier to the huge variety of “ready-made“ available to the trade in my trade only supermarket. These include about five different types of fries, ready-made rösti, Pommes Dauphinois, Pommes Rissollee, potato salad and ready peeled waxy potatoes (chilled, not frozen). Presumably, suppliers to the catering trade in the US also have a similar range of frozen potato products for the busy restauranteur. Although, to be fair, the restaurants are probably providing what their customers want (and if the “luxury menus” featured on Hell’s Kitchen USA are typical of what customers want in an upscale restaurant then the typical clientele don’t seem to be very demanding)

My experience of dining in “upscale restaurants“ in the US has been very mixed indeed. At one end, and superb, was Mortons of Chicago steakhouse (the original one in Chicago) And at the other a restaurant in Richmond Virginia whose offerings would be put to shame by your average quality UK Transport Caff (as they used to be). The thing about Mortons of Chicago is that it does one thing and it does it very well with high quality ingredients and that is they just grill steaks* They know their strengths and limitations, which is always a good thing for a restauranteur to know.

(* okay, I know that Morton’s ialso do starters, sides and deserts, but it‘s  their steaks which are is the main attraction).

 

I certainly agree that a steak is a difficult cut of meat to get right when cooking it at home. Brining it helps, as does having a cast iron griddle pan. Cooking the steak medium rare also goes along way towards having a juicy and tender steak.
 

However, where nearly all domestic grills fall down is in the heat output: compared to a professional grill (whether gas or charcoal) domestic grills really do not get hot enough (but that’s also true of domestic hobs and gas burners as well; they, like the grills, are positively puny in comparison with professional equipment).

 

Nonetheless with some practice you can arrive at a pretty decent home-cooked steak. Brian, you referred to the cost of steaks and indded they can be quite exorbitant. But if I may make a suggestion, I suggest you start by cooking the various “specialty“ steaks such as hanger or flank. With brining, marinating and then cooking and needing to rest before eating, these very inexpensive cuts meet will give you a great state experience (and if it doesn’t go quite right, you can mince the cooked meat add some spices and onions, seasonings and bindings and turn them into beef rissoles - or feed them to the dog if they really go pear shaped). A couple of weekends grilling hanger steak, flank steak and the like should gain you plenty of experience to allow you to eventually take on the challenge of grilling a T-Bone or similar without fear or trepidation, confident in your ability to produce a very good steak.
 

Good night all

[BokStein]

Hi,

 

Everybody has their own take on good and bad food.

 

8 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Good heavens, Brian. You say they are supposedly amongst the best places in town and they can’t properly make mash potato or offer any other type of potato other than fries? I’m astonished.

I referred earlier to the huge variety of “ready-made“ available to the trade in my trade only supermarket. These include about five different types of fries, ready-made rösti, Pommes Dauphinois, Pommes Rissollee, potato salad and ready peeled waxy potatoes (chilled, not frozen). Presumably, suppliers to the catering trade in the US also have a similar range of frozen potato products for the busy restauranteur. Although, to be fair, the restaurants are probably providing what their customers want (and if the “luxury menus” featured on Hell’s Kitchen USA are typical of what customers want in an upscale restaurant then the typical clientele don’t seem to be very demanding)

My experience of dining in “upscale restaurants“ in the US has been very mixed indeed. At one end, and superb, was Mortons of Chicago steakhouse (the original one in Chicago) And at the other a restaurant in Richmond Virginia whose offerings would be put to shame by your average quality UK Transport Caff (as they used to be). The thing about Mortons of Chicago is that it does one thing and it does it very well with high quality ingredients and that is they just grill steaks* They know their strengths and limitations, which is always a good thing for a restauranteur to know.

(* okay, I know that Morton’s ialso do starters, sides and deserts, but it‘s  their steaks which are is the main attraction).

 

I certainly agree that a steak is a difficult cut of meat to get right when cooking it at home. Brining it helps, as does having a cast iron griddle pan. Cooking the steak medium rare also goes along way towards having a juicy and tender steak.
 

However, where nearly all domestic grills fall down is in the heat output: compared to a professional grill (whether gas or charcoal) domestic grills really do not get hot enough (but that’s also true of domestic hobs and gas burners as well; they, like the grills, are positively puny in comparison with professional equipment).

 

Nonetheless with some practice you can arrive at a pretty decent home-cooked steak. Brian, you referred to the cost of steaks and indded they can be quite exorbitant. But if I may make a suggestion, I suggest you start by cooking the various “specialty“ steaks such as hanger or flank. With brining, marinating and then cooking and needing to rest before eating, these very inexpensive cuts meet will give you a great state experience (and if it doesn’t go quite right, you can mince the cooked meat add some spices and onions, seasonings and bindings and turn them into beef rissoles - or feed them to the dog if they really go pear shaped). A couple of weekends grilling hanger steak, flank steak and the like should gain you plenty of experience to allow you to eventually take on the challenge of grilling a T-Bone or similar without fear or trepidation, confident in your ability to produce a very good steak.
 

Good night all

 

For me, home made chips are Marris Piper potatoes, cubed and lightly simmered for about 10 minutes or until 'fluffy'.

 

They are then drained and put into an oven proof pan atop a light sprinkling ov EVOO with a mix of herbs and seasoning. A further application of the substrate is then applied to the exposed upper before they put into an ordinary oven for about an hour.

 

 

[Gwiwer]

7 hours ago, BoD said:

chicken wire, a pair of snips and a heavy duty staple/nail gun

https://yarn.co/yarn-clip/63608623-f98e-4c99-a9b5-bf83d916fd3e

[Ozexpatriate]

12 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

https://yarn.co/yarn-clip/63608623-f98e-4c99-a9b5-bf83d916fd3e

Bob's Country Bunker has both kinds of music, country and western.

[J. S. Bach]

54 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 ...snip... I cannot imagine being below on an old aircraft carrier (like CV-63) in the Persian Gulf without A/C. Pure misery.

I knew her as CVA-63 in the Tonkin Gulf. Anyway, we had forced-air in most compartments, so it was not too bad below decks.

 

 

50 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Are they the guys with all those toxic coal ash retention ponds that were flooded after Hurricane Florence?

Not sure as that was before my time in SC.

 

Note: Now that I know how to use the "multi-quote", I like it.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Might be a little more rain on the way tonight according to Arthur Itis. I still have to assemble the wheelbarrow but I should be able to this weekend. Despite being cut what parts  of the lawn that is still green is getting rather long, another job for the weekend.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

The weather has been a bit mixed today, it didn’t rain whilst I walked to the butchers, but it did on my at back. Luckily it was only light rain and I didn’t really get wet. The same happened on my way to and from the Trafford Centre, but I was in the car, so it didn’t really matter. The sun finally shone mid afternoon and lasted for the rest of the day. 

 

After this morning’s disappointment in not getting the latest copy of RM, I decided that after dinner, instead of reading I’d make some almond scones instead. I only made a small batch, 4 in total but they are quite large. They went down well with the management, as half have been eaten already!

 

 Goodnight all 

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

Good night owl from the Piedmont.

[AndyID]

3 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Donk and Noel have pinched Debs' bronze archery medal.  Donk is looking very pleased with himself, he's proud of his human.

 

 

 

Noël seems to be playing it safe by hiding behind Donk in case he gets blamed for the heist. Bit of a Coward is he?

 

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all,

 

The chiropracting went well being described by him as gently brutal - at times he definitely went easy on the gentle bit but allegedly there's no gain without pain.  Then a visit to WHS (no 'toddler in stock yet) but a 'Radio Times' was secured so normal life may continue from tomorrow.

 

Some folk seen to be suitably masked up and quite a lot being sensible about social distancing although there was a minority who weren't but I think a smaller percentage than seen on previous visits to the town.  Town was reasonably busy but the large car park adjacent to Waitrose was very definitely not up to normal occupation level although the other town centre car park was.  Having 'masked up' before going into WHS and with some narrow pavements on the route home I kept the mask on until reaching home and much to my surprise it wasn't at all uncomfortable despite the air temperature having risen due to uninterrupted sunshine and a three quarter mile + walk with an ascent  of  a little over 100ft.

 

Early dinner this evening was salad but as I'd had my usual sautéed mushrooms and grilled bacon (see below) for lunch that was not a problem likely to lead to starvation.  I do like crispy bacon - although today's wasn't but I definitely don't like it burnt there being a considerable difference between the two.  Equally I very definitely don't like burnt mushrooms and, apart from the butter in which they are sautéed when eating them with bacon, I don't put in any additives at all so the natural flavour comes through and goes really well with bacon.  Regrettably the current packet of streaky I'm using has rather a lot of fat on the rashers - a consequence of me not doing the shopping and going through umpteen packets looking for the leanest rashers.

 

Enjoy the rest of your day in teh lands where daylight is still present and the rest of your evening for those of you nearer the meridian of Greenwich.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by The Stationmaster

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening all,
 

Alas the United Parcels Service van didn’t come, and neither did the mail, which was strange. I went down to the shop this evening as someone had moved the wrecked gate, so we went to investigate. A photo has been included below. The guy who crashed into it was drunk and lost control of his 2004 corvette at about 65 mph. All captured on camera as well. 
 

 

stay healthy,

 

Douglas

[AndyID]

33 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

 

 

The Vette must have been a bit of a mess. 

[BR60103]

We had a day cleaning carpets. Machine with hot water and a solution. Extra rugs not back in place yet.  

The promised thunderstorm finally arrived after 7 pm. There may be more over the weekend.

Dayle was out again before I was out of bed. Even at that hour she found her walk too hot.

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

As for music, I use Spotify, not considered the trendiest by today’s standards (Apple Music is the cutting edge) but I thinks it’s great. And it can be bluetooth connected to the house’s Sonos system. 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Goodnight all, from Greencountry.

 

Douglas

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Let me begin with CDs and in-car music.  I agree with Flavio about the tangible aspect and have wondered more than once in the past how you get someone to autograph a download.  I have little experience of streaming services such as Spotify.  Most of the music that I go for is definitely at the minority/obscure end of the spectrum and it was no surprise when some gentle readers professed never to have heard of much of my Top and Second 10s.  The music that I like is often so niche that I come to know the perpetrators personally.  I'm sure we all have discerning taste and that we do not all discern the same things.  FYI, the two most recent additions to my CD collections are by Sam Carter, an up and coming singer-songwriter who is also part of a modern folk-rock band called False Lights, and Calan, a delightfully noisy band from Wales.   I may not do it today but it will not be long before I go shopping for a modest CD player.  A generation ago it might have been called a ghetto blaster.  Today, I'm told, we do not blast ghettos but live with them in peace and harmony.

 

I should have been in Bristol this weekend for Pride.  Last year 18,000 of us marched through the city centre and it was just as much of a blast as it had been the year before with a mere (?) 12,000 marchers.  That had been the start of a life-changing sequence of events to which I shall return.  Meanwhile, there are persistent suggestions that those who rule us will soon insist that we all wear facial masks.  Perish the thought.  If they were at all effective, would there not have been more adorning powerful faces before now?

 

Before I get into more trouble, I drew much reassurance from the kind and sympathetic reception given to my post yesterday.  Thanks, folks.

 

Chris

[polybear]

10 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Last time I had a haircut was October IIRC. Its going to cost me £11:50 as like many things Covidvirus has meant greater costs but as I would have had a couple of haircuts at £7 a time thats not too bad.

 

Seven quid??  Now that's what I call a result.  Mine were £12 a time, and that was before C-19 kicked off.....

 

7 hours ago, AndyID said:

Noël seems to be playing it safe by hiding behind Donk in case he gets blamed for the heist. Bit of a Coward is he?

 

 

Tail Gunner.  Don't come any braver than that......

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a sunny Charente, which mercifully  is still a long way from an Ikea. The boss is still asleep but last night orders were posted that today should be a day of rest. I wonder if this state of affairs will continue.  

However there are a couple of tasks. The shorter ine is to shovel a third of a ton of sand out of the trailer onto a board and then cover the sand to prevent various deposits from feral cats and other creatures. The sand will comee in useful some day, but the trailer is needed rather sooner.  The other task is to monitor the leakage from the pool. Even though it was only filled to 6cms depth 23 square metres of area means that there was approx 1.3 tonnes of water in it. I may have to cut a larger hole in the liner to asist it's exit.  Apart from those two tasks nothing else is planned so I may do some more photo scanning.  I'm now doing a year of negs and a year of slides at a time and am starting to get to the point where I took quite a lot of French railway scenes. Once there are plenty done I'll probably start another random railway photo thread for European railways. Eventualy I plan to do one for North and Central  American ones as well.  All good fun.

 

Anyway regards to all and Douglas I sincerely  hope that you haven't just acquired a new landlord following the Supreme Court ruling.  

 

Jamie

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by jamie92208