Tuesday's Open Thread ~ Just Chillin
Home is where the cookies are ~ Anonymous
Good Morning Everyone,
Welcome to Tuesday's Open Thread. My apologies for cheating you out of the topic I had originally planned for today, but due to an inconveniently timed illness, I had to postpone that conversation for another time. In its place, I thought we'd talk about what we do when we're chillin at home, or what we do to comfort ourselves when we're sick, or feeling blue, or just want to escape from the insane world we live in.
The Comforts of Home
Snuggling up in a comfortable chair with a good book is still one of my favorite ways to chill. When I lived in New York, I used to sit by the window on snowy days and watch the snowflakes drift by. With three large windows facing Eighth Avenue, the steeple of one of the oldest German Churches in Chelsea was visible from my livingroom. The window in the kitchen overlooked the Lucky Dragon restaurant where I could see Qiu Yin pick up the phone whenever I called for delivery. Very convenient all the way around. By the time I changed into my pajamas, someone was already buzzing the door downstairs with my dinner.
My California home is a cozy cottage nestled under a grove of fruit trees in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. While I don't have the convenience of waving to Qiu Yin through my kitchen window when I'm in the mood for sesame noodles, there are other compensations. In sharp contrast to the cramped kitchen I had in New York, these days I spend my time in a kitchen that was designed by someone who appreciated the importance of flow. Spacious and full of light, the place where I dabble in culinary experiments features marble counter tops, new appliances and fixtures, and a kitchen sink large enough to put two pasta pots in there to soak. I was so giddy when I first moved in, I kept walking around the house talking to myself. Granted, Chinese delivery here takes over 30 minutes, but my kitchen windows now overlook the garden and a pair of Hibiscus trees that I bought at Aldi's for $25 each. I might not read as much as I used to, but I'm doing a lot more gardening, cooking, and entertaining. Sometimes I even like to take naps where the only noise I hear is the soft snoring from my cat Zoe.
Chillin with the Bears
Being sick and living by yourself has its limitations. As much as I love my three cats, they're basically useless when it comes to driving to the store to get supplies. But at least I have my books. When I was sick in bed as a little girl, my Mother used to bring me old Peanuts books to read. The tradition stuck and over the years I've filled my bookshelves with collectors editions of Charles Schultz' famous comic strip. Along the way Calvin and Hobbs was added as well as Matt Groenig's earlier work before the Simpsons. Reading comics or watching Japanese anime is one of the things I like to do when I'm feeling blue or confined to my bed. This past weekend, I came across an unexpected little gem on Netflix. A whimsical and endearing look at a year in the life of a twenty-something Japanese girl and her two life sized toy bears. With a quiet touch to soothe your soul and exquisitely rendered stop-motion to delight your eyes, time spent chillin with these bears may just cure whatever ails you. At least for a little while.
Rilakkuma and Kaoru is a delightful, magical slice of life
"Rilakkuma and Kaoru is based on a stationary character of the same name. The premise is simple: a year in the life of a normal human woman and her three roommates, two of which are bears (Rilakkuma is the big brown one; Korilakkuma is the smaller white one) and one a pet chick, Kiiroitori. Told in lush, cozy stop-motion, there is an intrinsic warmth and delight to the show. But the show isn’t just cute. It’s also pretty emotionally impactful.
Though to be fair, it is pretty darn cute. In both the English dub and the original Japanese, the bears and Kiiroitori don’t talk, but instead communicate in small chirps and coos, making them all the more more endearing. We never find out where the bears come from; they just appear in Kaoru’s apartment one day, much like their stationary empire backstory. No one really questions that they’re there. The animals interact with other people, even get jobs at one point, without anyone really batting an eye".
Rilakkuma and Kaoru is a love letter to the need to escape, to stop and take time for yourself when everything around you feels like high-stakes chaos. But at the same time, it’s also a reminder that those acts of escape don’t have to be as grand and as sweeping as the chaos that warranted the need for them in the first place. Sometimes it’s about promising to do something for yourself, and actually doing it. Sometimes it’s just about stopping and watching the flowers, or taking care of the friends around you, knowing that they’ll take care of you too.
The Song
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Hope you all had a great weekend. Here's to health and happiness.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Good morning, Anja ~~
Nothing better than a hot cup of tea and a good book. I have lots of windows so I can enjoy the outdoors when I'm cooped up inside.
Have a lovely Tuesday, everyone!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Good Morning RA
Tea is lovely, but for extra cosiness, I like a cup of hot cocoa and a British murder mystery. Be well!
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
So sorry that you are under the weather.
Combining the theme of food with the theme of comforting oneself = comfort food, no?
Bland mashed potatoes
My number one comfort food: mashed potatoes, "madefrom raw," of course. ("Made from raw is how a cafeteria manager once described his beef stew to me.) And,if we're being very, very self indulgent, made from raw with heavy cream instead of milk, though milk may be more advisable if you are nauseated. You can also use chicken broth for all or some of the liquid, though I do not. Oh, salt and even the tiniest bit of pepper are fine, but no garlic or anything like that. I enjoy a good garlicky dish as much as anyone, but not when I am feeling ill.
My mom made them the classic way, with a ricer. I use a fork most of the way, adding the butter first, then the liquid, and finish with an electric hand mixer. My feeble hand mixer, not my 300-watt stick blender, which makes them too glue-y. Both my mom and I produce lush, lump-less mashed, though she used whole milk, never cream or broth.
Chicken soup
For others, chicken soup is classic. Probably takes too long for a sick person to make for herself from scratch, even though it's been called "Jewish penicillin." About that:
Between the second and third act of a play, the theater manager stepped in front of the curtain to tell the audience that an understudy would take over the lead in the third act because the star of the play had passed away suddenly. But, they could leave and stop at the box office to get their money back, if they preferred.
From the audience, came a shout: "Give 'im some nice chicken soup."
"Madam," responded the manager, as condescension dripped from him, "The man is dead. Chicken soup can't help."
"Couldn't 'oit!"
Pastina, egg and cheese
I have not yet tried the following recipe. I guess I think of pastina as comfort food because my sister often fed it to her toddlers, calling it, for their benefit, "baby pastina," which deceived them into believing it was a special food for children their age. (I can't answer for my sister's deception of her own young offspring, so don't ask.) She gave them pastina in brodo (broth), but this recipe is a bit more involved. https://www.framedcooks.com/2009/07/pastina-with-egg-and-cheese-otherwis...
Quick chicken noodle "soup"
In between "baby pastina" with cheese and egg and "some nice chicken soup,"made from raw? A box of organic chicken broth plus some of those "nests" made of very thin pasta. Put some broth into a bowl. Crumble some "nests" into the broth. (The number of nests depends upon how hungry you are. I have sometimes put in so many that I get essentially a bowl of noodles.) Microwave until the pasta in soft. It takes only a very few minutes because the pasta is so thin.
If you have some nice, crusty French or Italian bread and want your meal to be more filling, put some pieces of the bread into the broth and give the bread a few seconds to soak up the broth. Doesn't matter if the bread is a bit stale. Otherwise, just have the broth and noodles. Season to taste. Stick the bowl, a soup spoon and a paper towel or a napkin on a large plate or a tray, stumble back into bed and enjoy. It's surprisingly tasty.
Feel much better soon!
Good morning HAW
Comfort food. Great way to soothe rattled nerves or baby a cold. Mashed potatoes with peas was one of my Mothers sick day dishes. Once when I had my wisdom teeth pulled, a boyfriend attempted to re-create the dish. But he used a hand mixer and beat the potatoes for too long. I suspect you know the outcome.
A favorite comfort food my Mother made when we weren't sick was homemade macaroni and cheese. She started with a bechamel sauce and went from there. I can still see her old casserole dish sitting on the dining room table. Best macaroni and cheese I ever ate
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Roasted Cumin Rubbed Bear
with Cabernet Glaze
Hope you are feeling better!
Thanks QMS!
Me too.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Roasted
Cumin rubber bands. Yum. Thanks q. Sounds about right. Heh
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hmmmm....
I thought it was a take on the bears...
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Cute bears
Just read roasted rubber bands on first skim...
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
Lol
That made me laugh
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
When I'm sick and miserable, I bash my head against a wall...
Metaphorically, of course. I tend to pick a video game I KNOW I won't win, and play on the hard setting, with pretty much everything stacked against me, and see how long I can go for. (I use Rimworld a lot for this purpose. For those who aren't familiar, it's a spiritual successor to "Dwarf Fortress", which has "Losing is FUN" as a tag line.)
Other than that, I try not to stay in when depressed any more. I just get worse. Today, I'm a little worried because I'm taking my kids to the dentist. Plus, Portland teachers are striking tomorrow... right after telling me that I need to pay them more money for student shows. Yeah, nothing personal folks, but your timing sucks. Oh, yes, I know how hard it is and how we all need to pull together for the education... But when I have been hearing all year about how you need money... every week... you kinda lose my sympathy. There's only so much energy in the world for "Dire existential threats" and you've been leaning on the button for too long.
Memo from Sea Biscuit. STOP BEATING.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QImBolnTVH8]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Good morning DMW
Not being much of a video player, I can't say too much about that. Although I do like a good game of backgammon.
Hope your day gets better.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Chill and get well quick!
Sleep is the great healer. As a teen I learned a bit about herbal medicine from an older fellow, Sim Lovejoy. His aunt was a Cherokee and she taught him about herbs and nature.
So my go to herbs include:
yellow root which I normally use to make a medicinal tea. It is bitter, but you can add a bit of honey. It is a common plant along creeks and streams.
cone flower or echinacea - We have to grow this one, but it is a perennial once established. The whole plant can be dried ground and made into a tea.
peppermint (so easy to grow) used as a tea can help settle an upset stomach
Clove tea will help to stop vomiting and dry heaves.
Probably the best cure for most ailments - two clean sheets, two aspirin, and plenty of sleep.
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks Lookout
Those are some great suggestions! Amazing how effective natural remedies can be! When I used to get mild eye infections, my mother would soak my eyes with camomile tea. Worked like a charm but now my association with the smell of camomile tea is goopy eyes.
Be well
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
When I'm sick
It has always been bed for me. Ginger ale and chicken noodle soup are the favored foods.
If I'm stressed or depressed, There are a couple of British authors I like to read. Both authors now long dead, and their books out of print. But their books take me to a different time and place and I find that soothing. Comfort food when I'm sad, is something my grandkids love and beg me to make, creamed tuna on rice. Some adults prefer hunger to eating that, so I'm not suggesting it for others. But with a nice green vegetable and maybe some fruit, it works for me.
Hope you feel better soon, Anja.
Thanks Granma
Bed rest certainly does give your body the energy it needs to fight off a cold. And I'm not the kinda person who gets bored easily when in bed. Plenty of things to read and watch when I'm not sleeping.
And btw, creamed tuna over rice sounds like the ultimate comfort food.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Good day, Anja; sorry to hear you're under the weather, but it
didn't prevent your lovely writing style from flowing through to us.
Yes to ginger and chicken soup for comfort or recalling an old theatre trick of eating steak, only protein with stiff top-shelf drinks may help, the show has to go on.
It works, especially for fever associated illnesses.
A little music:
Good Morning Smiley
Steak sounds good. Especially with some caramelized onions? Yummy. Glad you enjoyed what I was able to put together. The comforts of home is a subject near and dear to my heart for so many reasons. Have a great day, Smiley. Thanks for the Bach.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Steak Dunigan!
From the Pink Adobe in Santa Fe. Caramelize onions and a little garlic, add sliced mushrooms, and then add as many blanched and peeled, green Hatch chiles (medium chop, maybe) as you like. I like the green flavor of the chiles even more than the heat they provide, so we'll use twice as many mild chiles as we would medium or hot, just for the sake of more chiles, for this recipe.
Put a good layer of that goodness on top of the steak, roughly equal to its thickness. The steak should be seared all around in cast iron: somewhere between barely warm and mildly frightened, at least for me, but Cindy likes hers with actual caramelization... Serve with bad intentions. Heaven.
We can cheat, out here in CO. In the fall, the NM folks will bring truckloads of chiles straight up from Hatch, set up roadside stands, and you can pick your poison. We'll buy several bushels of each when they're available, blanch and peel them (but otherwise leave them whole), and then vaccuum pack and put 'em up in the deep freeze in ~10oz units.
The number of things that can be done with good NM chiles is pretty much infinite. Picture a breakfast casserole with a layer of hash browns, a layer of eggs whupped up omelette style, a layer of the protein(s) of your choice, a layer of whole green chiles butterflied open, and a layer of cheese of your choice. Lather, rinse, repeat to desired thickness (extra points if every protein layer is different...). Then bake at 375 until the top cheese gets nice and golden. If you need to stretch it, just (say it with me) add more chiles.
Now, you've made me hungry.
Oh, gosh you made me hungry
I'm a bit of a whimp when it comes to chiles in general, and hatch chiles can be especially hot so I use the very sparingly, but I LOVE them in white chicken chile!
And speaking of eggs and cheese...I'm going to be doing a brunch this weekend and I'm experimenting a little with a classic brunch item. Don't want to reveal too much because I'll probably use it for a foodie edition but there is nothing better than eggs in pastry!
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Hey, Anja! When I'm chillin', I just look outside my window...
...which is about 20 feet from a 400-acre nature preserve, or take a minute or two walk down to my lake. (We're about an hour north of midtown Manhattan. And, below is a real picture, by the way; not photoshopped.)
Lake Kitchawan Reflections.jpg (10.22 KB)
Here's my Lake Association's website LINK.
"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson
Wow
Talk about a great window view! Thanks for the link, Bob. I enjoyed the pictures and learned a few things about weed prevention in lakes. Who knew?
New York State has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to beautiful lakes. I used to vacation up at Yankee Lake in Wurtsboro, which I think is in Sullivan County. Did a lot of canoeing, fishing and huckleberry picking back then. Made some pretty good jam too. Nice memories.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Hey, Anja!
What a beautiful home you have! I think, the next time I'm feeling blue, that gazing at your pictures will help lift my spirits.
If I lived there, I might never leave the premises.
I hope you've started to feel better. Like you, my go-to activity while sick, from the time I was very young, is reading. In fact, I sometimes enjoy being sick because it provides an inarguable excuse for doing something I can't seem to carve out enough time for otherwise!
If I'm not nauseous, my favorite comfort food when sick is a dish my nearly 99-year-old grandmother first made for me when I was little: a soft-boiled egg cracked over two pieces of buttered, shredded toast. Mix it all together in a bowl and eat it with a spoon. Yum! (These days, I'm forced to use GF bread, the texture of which is greatly enhanced by a runny yolk!)
I'm not much into anime, though the title of the movie you mentioned, plus the reference to your cats, made me think of Maru the Cat. I think I could easily be sucked into watching hours of video of this hilarious guy the next time I'm sick! (In between reading, that is).
Thanks for the OT!
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDolQlZWSmw]
Hey Eagles!
Toast and eggs ~ Two of the most perfectly paired comfort foods. Yummy. Thanks for the video! I LOVE Maru!
Glad you enjoyed the photos, but I hope you won't be too disappointed to hear that they are not of my own home. I was trying to evoke a mood and since I always find such wonderful pictures of home interiors on an architectural design website I follow, I just included some of their photos. Although my home is very cosy and pretty, I'm hesitant to put my little sanctuary on the Internet. But feel free to peruse the pictures from the website I linked to when you're feeling blue. Looking at pretty things always helps me!
Have a great Tuesday!
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
nature is where it is at for me
Do nature. A walk in the park, the woods, anywhere outdoors, does wonders for the body, mind, and spirit. There is always something to see of interest and intrigue, which is great for the mind. Plus the exercise one gets is usually much-needed by most. For body and mind, nature is hard to beat. Make the closest natural area your local walkin' spot. Go regularly, watch it change through the seasons. Maybe even make notes about it. Like, gasp, a naturalist. I love the San Gabes... spent months of my life on the north side up on the Angeles Crest, Buckhorn to especially Blue Ridge right at the LA Co. line. 7-8000' with spruce and fir forest. I called it the poor mans Sierras. But for 90 min. from LA, it was hard to beat.
happy happy joy joy
be well!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Hi Dystopian
So you're familiar with this area? Small world, eh? Yeah, I've been meaning to get back out there. I used to walk my Sister's dogs in Eaton Canyon a few years ago. You're right about the connection you feel surrounded by nature. It's a good feeling.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
a little familiar...
Hi Anja, I am a socal native, a beach cities boy (Huntington and Redondo), but escaped. Eaton Cyn. is nice, I have birded there are few times, I was more into Santa Anita Cyn., where Sturdevant Falls. The LA Arboretum is great right there too. The old Hwy 39 methinks it was shortcut to the back side highest part of the Angeles Crest is of course closed for decades due to rockfalls. I have sent many an out-of-stater to drive Hwy. 2, the Angeles Crest, all the way out to Big Pines, and none were ever less than blown away by the scenery and views. Several good campgrounds and picnic areas along the way, as well as great hiking trails in fir forest. The far eastern portion is the best. Grassy Hollow, Blue Ridge, Jackson Lake, Table Mtn., Dawson Saddle, Vincent Gap, Arches Picnic area. Often the peak spring bloom is June up at that altitude. For my wife and I weekends up there in summer was one of our 'great escapes' while doing the anthill ratrace saltmine grind in LA.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Redondo beach
I have a lot of childhood memories on that pier and the beach there. It's changed a lot since then. Thanks for sharing the local scenic route here in the mountains. There is still so much I haven't seen! Looking forward to exploring again when I finally finish with the required car repairs. When I do, I'll take pictures and share!
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
I live within an hour
of all the really popular mass shooting sites in the Denver area- between Columbine, Aurora x2, the WalMart up north, the women’s health clinic in the Springs, and today’s ballistic freedoming at the school in Highlands Ranch that’s barely going to make the news. I’m sure I left some others out. Seems like this 50 mile radius is a really popular place to punch holes in people. Two weeks ago, the house 4 doors down got swatted. It’s not just a life- it’s an adventure...
So my recipe of the day is 3 Percodan, two shots of Stoli, and a flak jacket. And maybe some unused croissant dough to make cinnamon-sugar knots. But I don’t have any milk, so I’d have to venture out for it- and I’m just not feeling it tonight...
No smiley.
Keep your head down Skod
Yeah. You got that right.
Beyond sad.
The cinnamon sugar knots
Sound wonderful. The news about another shooting less so. There are no words for what is going on these days. Beyond horrifying. I'm so sorry. Hope you are able to surround yourself with people who love and appreciate you.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
My wife and I
took a cooking class a while back that focused on croissants, and in particular in getting the perfect lamination for that great flaky crumb that makes you want to peel it apart one layer at a time to eat it. Key to this is keeping the dough quite cold so that the butter layers don't melt, and rolling it out very precisely so that that even flaky layering is maintained right to the very edge.
But each time you book it, even the most skilled dough-roller will always turn the original perfect dough rectangle into an irregular barrel with slightly wobbly curved edges. You want to keep that perfect layering right to the edge, every time. So what do you do? Trim. And what do you do with the trimmings, which are still nice dough- just not croissantworthy?
Cinnamon knots! Or any other kind of knot (garlic, prosciutto and cheese, yadda yadda). Just anything *but* croissants, because you inevitably lose your perfect flaky crumb in the trimmed dough...
Just checked my news alerts. No shootings yet, today. Snow tonight. Spring in the Rockies.
Thanks for the kind thoughts, all- I was just in a mood yesterday.
croissants
I'll be the first to admit my utter fascination with baking does *not* match my skill. But I do so enjoy talking about food with you! Most of my baking knowledge about layers, butter, and keeping the dough cold come from the show The Great British Bake Off. Taking a baking class sounds like fun. Your wife is a lucky gal.
Edit: *not*
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
I lack skill
but attempt to make up for it in enthusiasm. Cindy, on the other hand, is very, *very* good: she used to cater, back in the day. For the first 20 years or so of our marriage, our cooking together consisted of her cooking, and me picking up whatever she put down, washing it, and putting it back where it came from. Infinite clean knives!
But then some years ago, I decided to move beyond applying flame to meat, and started really trying to learn something to be _productive_ during our cooks. That led to us taking cooking classes together, which led to me developing some actual knife skills, which led to me doing a lot of the prep, which has now led to us just playing off each other in the kitchen and seeing what falls out.
It is like music in many ways: you spend hours and years doing scales, etudes and exercises, which trains your muscles to do the work, and frees your brain up to improvise. Guitarists don't think "finger here, finger there, pluck"- in fact, the good ones don't think much about the mechanics at all (says the drummer...). They are thinking 16 bars down the road, just like a good race driver is thinking about 3 corners later after he's already passed the guy in front of him. So it can be with cooking, I've learned: once you get past the idea that sometimes the smoke is *gonna* come out, you stop worrying about the fine stuff. And it's all fine stuff.
Now, my specialty is butchering, winemaking, and keeping our blades sharp. For Christmas, I bought myself a Ken Onion sharpening rig, and a couple of nice Japanese single-bevel knives. We each have our stations set up in the kitchen, and I'm now trying to branch out into subtle things- like croissants, or good pasta, doing a really good anything-Wellington, all the great sauces, or getting the perfect cook on any arbitrary freezer-challenge protein in cast iron (the secret there appears to be that the cast iron is _always_ too cold on a home cooktop).
And I still apply meat to the grill, just as a warning to other grills. (;-) Anyway, cooking is sort of the perfect video game: relatively easy to learn, but impossible to master. And, with the exception of the occasional accidental foray into napalmed building materials ("you mean those were supposed to be *beignets*?"), you get to eat what you make!
I just realized I left out a very important word
in my last post. Particularly the *not* when describing my baking skills. Meaning my enthusiasm does *not* match my skill. What a knucklehead I am!
Enjoyed your comparison of cooking to playing music. Some dishes I feel like I'm playing Mozart when I'm cooking, other's I feel more like I'm playing the yakety sax.
Ah, the cutting of the meat. I can see why you enjoyed Buford's book so much. My knives are about 20 years old. They're German Henckels - an investment at the time - but a good one. Frankly it surprises me sometimes when I visit people's kitchen and see what they're using. I'm not saying you have to have the top end, but at the very least a decent chef's knife. I knew one woman who used a small paring knife for 30 years. I can't imagine how encumbered I'd feel chopping and prepping with that.
P.S. you drew such a vivid picture of you and Cindy cooking together, really enjoyed that.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
i know you were joking, but still,
3 percodan + 2 shots is possibly dangerous.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
hmmmm....
and how would you know that?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
if you're thinking i'm some kinda party animal,
i'm afraid i must disabuse you.
on the other hand, once i had a nasty sinus infection -- the splitting headache kind. i had a couple of percocets in the medicine cabinet left over from a wisdom tooth extraction. i took one. a little bit later, for no particular reason other than refreshment, i drank a beer. man, let me tell you, i was astounded at the synergistic potency. suddenly, opiate abuse made perfect sense to me (this was long, long before the current opiate crisis) -- as in, I totally understand why somebody would want to feel this way as often as possible, all the time even.
but that's just an amusing anecdote. more to the point, percodan is a powerful neurological depressant (oxycodone, actually), and alcohol is a moderately powerful neurological depressant. generally speaking, mixing depressants, especially in recreational doses, is a risky business (remember kathleen quinlan?).
percocet is an even worse drug to combine with booze, because it has 325mg of acetaminophen per tablet (percodan has aspirin). 3 "standard" percocets is thus about a gram of acetaminophen, which is just not a good thing to take with alcohol. you probably aren't going to damage your liver with these dosages, but why take a chance? (actually, a better question is, why take acetaminophen at all? it's probably not good for you.).
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Acetaminophen is no joke.
Won't touch the stuff, and never have liked it. And apparently that's why the -dan was the ingredient of choice, rather than the -cet.
As with many of us, I continue to be astounded that even I made it to 30. Everything since then has been gravy, to a greater or lesser extent. All I can say about those days is that I spent many days pondering the rhetorical question "Is it better to be young and stupid and have no future, or old and stupid and have no past?"...
Surprisingly, my answer to that question changed- right about the time I turned 30. Funny, that. That's when I really internalized the fact that I was out of warranty and the spares inventory had been depleted.
True story:
In the lab, if you're trying to determine whether the cells in your petri dish are "still" liver cells (liver cells start to lose their liver-ness within hours of being removed from a liver), one test is to treat them with acetaminophen. If they die -- yep, they're liver cells.
My understanding is this: Each liver cell has a stockpile of the enzymes it needs to metabolize acetaminophen. As long as it has any left, it will be okay. If it can't make more fast enough, and runs out before it can deactivate all of the acetaminophen, that's all she wrote for that cell.
There's also some evidence that acetaminophen can cause/aggravate asthma. Some folks think that one contributor to the asthma surge of the last 30 years was when we realized that aspirin can kill pre-adolescents, and everyone switched to tylenol for their kids.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
The wonders of drugs
Many years ago I found myself in the hospital waiting to be admitted to have a procedure done. I was in extreme pain but had to wait until I was officially admitted before they could do anything. Suffering acutely they finally gave me a Demerol drip. From the time they put it in, I watched the clock counting down the minutes until it would take effect. They said it would take ten minutes until I would "feel better" but mercifully it took only seven minutes. I was feeling so good fifteen minutes after the drug was administered I regretted not bringing something to read. The absence of the pain when you were writhing in it moments before is a beautiful thing.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Yeah, I know.
Haven't done that sort of thing since the 70s and do not recommend it. Period, full stop.
But I actually have had that experience, back in my late '70s punk rock days. Blew my knee out (the right one, on the kick drum side), just a week after we'd booked the headliner slot in a Boston club for a Saturday night for a month later. We'd been trying for that slot for a long time, and I wasn't about to give it up. Had surgery (MCL), then 3 weeks later got the other folks in the band to give me a hand dragging my kit up the stairs into the club (long story, that). Went into the bathroom, cut the cast off with a pair of tin snips, did the full count, then played two sets.
Needs must, when the devil drives. Did I mention that the music we were doing in the late 70s was serious power pogo (think Primus meets Gang of Four)? Kick drum side got a workout, but I'm told that the show was good. I'm glad- I don't remember it.
What I _do_ remember, on the other hand, is not being able to get out of bed for about a week afterwards, and PT taking twice as long as it should have...
Like my dear departed gray-haired mammy often told me, "Your liver's a muscle, son; if you don't use it, you'll lose it...". (;-) Dangerous indeed. Don't try this at home (or anywhere else), kids!
So you and Mark are both drummers?
Would it be wrong to assume you might enjoy this?
[video:https://youtu.be/UvOm2oZRQIk]
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
@Anja Geitz Yeah, mon!
Yeah, mon!
This is Wednesday so hope you feel better!
Big time rain here at the moment. Sitting in my garden is currently my favorite spot along with other places in the yard. Several seats in the house have great views of nature and bird feeders too. Comfort food? So many different foods are comforting ... Cheesy mashed potatoes with sausage gravy.
All the best to you!
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Hi Marilyn!
Feeling much better today thank you! Cloudy day here planting the azaleas in the garden . Will be making a grocery run later to pick up some items I will need for my next foodie edition. Got something lovely planned. Here's hoping it'll look as good as it tastes. I'm hoping to get some nice pictures!
Sitting by the window watching the birds in the garden is a nice way to chill, Marilyn, and ya can't beat chesse and potatoes for a comfort food!
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
@Anja Geitz Ooh, oohh- then think
Ooh, oohh- then think about slicing some leeks really thin, sauteeing them with garlic and a little shallot until they fall apart, and adding that to those cheesy spuds. If you like a saltier cheese, this might be too much, but with a good cheese this can be dynamite.
That sounds heavenly
And reminds me that I really don't do enough with leaks. Roasted some broccoli for myself yesterday and paired that with the lemon parmesan sauce I like to make. Man! Was that freaking delicious.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier