Thread Drift

[kelownagirl]

Dar - cute. I'm surprised to hear you call it pop. I thought y'all called it soda down there. My nephew called it "bubble juice" when he first started drinking pop.

Well ladies, you know that lovely smell that greets you when you get home from work and you had thrown stuff in the crockpot before you left? It's very annoying when it doesn't happen. Here I was, all excited about making Knot's chicken stew this morning and I guess at some point fairly early today, the power went out. Don't think it was out for long but I guess crock pots don't just turn back on if the power goes out. So I have a pot full of partially cooked stew, that's been sitting on the counter for about 8 hours at bacteria growing temperatures. Argh.

Second big pain in the *ss is that my darling young son left the garage door open all night, with the temps down to -15 (cel). Luckily, I had JUST moved 5 dozen beer and 45 bottles of wine (all home made) closer to the inside wall so they were all ok. Sadly, the other 5 dozen beer that were sitting right next to the open door ready to take over to our friend's place were frozen. Dang kids...

It's been a wasteful day all round...

[Offthegrid]

K - 5 dozen frozen beers? Oh, the humanity!

X - Hope ya' feeling better. {{ hugs }} It was a tough holiday. So glad at least that one's over. Now I just gotta figure out what the heck to do with this pumpkin pie I bought for a co-worker's fundraiser.

BM03 - Got your card today! You're officially the first one I've got.

In other news ...
I had this really horrible, very realistic dream last night that I was laid off from work. I just can't get over how REAL it felt. Then the alarm went off at 5:15 b/c I was supposed to go to spinning, and I said to myself, "Why did I set off the alarm when I don't have a job?" DUH! I actually had to keep saying to myself that it was only a dream. So I got up at 6:30 and missed the class, but made up for it by going after work. Fortunately I got there in time to sign up before the class filled.

I see my new doctor tomorrow. He's highly recommended and I had to apply to be his patient several months ago, so hopefully he lives up to his reputation. I'm wondering if I have to get a new PCP or if he's gonna be it because I canNOT continue seeing my old doc. They are so stupid and completely incompetant.

[KnottedYet]

We're getting snow again. Time to put up the non-denominational Winter Solstice Tree!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

We're getting snow again. Time to put up the non-denominational Winter Solstice Tree!

I usually say "Happy Yulestice!" to people during the winter holiday season.

[Kitsune06]

Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah!

Names are irrelevant. We are revelers. You will be assimilated!

[annie]

K - 5 dozen frozen beers? Oh, the humanity!

Don't you mean ---- inhumanity---- ???? Sorry........ couldn't help it, OTG. I guess I'd call it alcohol abuse.

All you snow people ------ are welcome to it!! I DO like snow, really I do, but I can live without it if someone else wants it! BM3, if I could send any snow to you, I would happily do so!

Soda vs. pop. Not even a contest in the midwest. Pop seems to be the clear winner. I wish I could remember how old I was when I realized that "soda" was the same as "pop", and not what you threw on the stovetop if it was flaming....... Or what you accidentally put in a cake, that your dear and beloved father ate out of love for his baking-impaired daughter.

Dar - besides soda, do you also understand turkey and dressing sandwiches???? Or is that only Iowa Midwest cuisine?

I DID read all of TD that I've missed over the TG holiday time. But just don't have the presence of mind to remember and comment on all. So I'm just picking up on the most recent. Sounds like everyone is at least ok if not for sore muscles, feet and joints, bad dreams, and various types of a**es floating around TD.

I did actually get in a bike ride over the weekend, plus an incredibly beautiful hike in a new recreational wilderness area near by. I'll try to post pics if they turn out ok.

For the wine drinkers on TD, I am slowly making my way through a thoroughly delicious, flavorful Las Rocas Spanish Garnacha. Only $10.99/btl. Quite full-bodied without being overbearing. Almost as good as Tres Pico Garnacha. I highly recommend either one. And open to suggestions for others??

annie

[KnottedYet]

Mmmm, pickled herring with onions, corn chips, and chocolate for dinner!

(don't worry, tomorrow I'm doing up a crock pot of "real" food)

No wine, but Annie if you bring over what's left of yer bottle, I'll give ya some YUMMY stinky pickled fish! Well, and some onions and corn chips and chocolate. You've gotta get the full effect of my gourmet meal!

[chickwhorips]

home made wine? did someone say home made wine?

[Offthegrid]

Don't you mean ---- inhumanity---- ???? Sorry........ couldn't help it, OTG. I guess I'd call it alcohol abuse.

Hey Annie,
Nope, I meant "oh the humanity." After some extensive research of a five-second search of Wikipedia, I determined the phrase was made famous during the Hindenburg tragedy.

Morrison's broadcast remains one of the most famous in history — his plaintive words "Oh, the humanity!" resonate with the impact of the disaster.

And that concludes today's history lesson.

[Offthegrid]

My uncle makes wine with his own homegrown grapes. He also makes beer.

No one wants to drink them. Nasty, nasty stuff.

[annie]

Knot,

I'll be glad to bring the rest of the wine for that gourmet meal....... yeah! How 'bout if I share the onions and corn chips and you take the stinky pickled fish and the chocolate? I LOVE onions. Corn chips are good, too. After seeing too many jars of pickled fish/eggs/mystery creatures bouncing in jars behind country bars, I just can't do the pickled "thingy" eating. And, weirdly enough, tho' it could get me kicked out of TE, let alone TD, I don't really like chocolate much........ unless it's really deep, dark bitter chocolate. Like 72% or more cocoa, no milk chocolate sweetness for me. Look at it this way...... more for the rest of you!

annie

[annie]

Wow, I am impressed. In the time it takes me to make one simple reply, you TD quick writers already have a couple of responses. I guess I simply have to be quicker, at reading and typing.

OTG, gotcha now. Really quite a heartfelt and hopeless quote at the time.

Homemade wine....... oh yeah........ my dad used to try that. With the balloons on the bottles. It was horrible, as I recall. Quite horrible. I don't even remember what he made it with. Maybe grapes, maybe ruhbarb. Either sickeningly sweet or completely undrinkable. Still, it was fun to watch the balloons swell and know that fermentation was going on in the basement.

annie

[KnottedYet]

Annie - I'm eating Scharffen-Berger 70% cacao.

I used to brew some darn good beer. Darks and bitters/reds. It was fun making different kinds and changing recipes. Bottling was fun too. It was a lot like making different kinds of bread.

Not making beer or bread anymore. Sigh...

[kelownagirl]

Beer update - DH was not to be deterred. We are Canadian after all. The beer thawed while we were at work and as far as he's concerned, it looked fine. He drank a bottle, it tasted fine. We're going to give the other 5 dozen that didn't freeze to our beer-sharing buddy and keep the "bad" 5 dozen. I was more worried about the wine myself. We just bottled a batch (30 bottles) of our favourite Woodbridge Estates Cab. Sauv. which won't be ready for about a year (we just finished our last batch and it closely rivelled the store-bought Woodbridge Cab Sauv.) We have 15 bottles of gewurtz left - it's not bad either. And 30 bottles of Stagg's Leap Merlot which should be close to ready around Christmas. Next week, we bottle some White Merlot which we did just for fun. It's all made at a Wine Store so the quality is pretty good actually and I'm pretty picky. Of course, I do spend a bit more for the better quality stuff but it still comes out cheaper than store bought.

As for store-bought wine - my favourite drinking wine is a French Merlot. Bouchard Aine et Fils. Yummy. Not too expensive. $12 Can.

• LOVE pickled herring, and dark chocolate (although not together )

• I remember the "oh the humanity" comment about the hindenburg.

• Still snowing here. Yikes.

[annie]

Oh, dam*. I love homemade bread!! I do still make that occasionally, on the rare rainy day when I am not working and stay in the house. Don't you just love the scent that fills the house from rising and then baking bread?? Mmmmmmm!

Never made beer. Your kind, Knot, dark and bitters, sound wonderful! Why did you quit?

Ok, the Scharffen-Berger 70% cacao, that I could savor slowly and with enjoyment! Especially with my nice deep red wine. Hmm, I wonder how long it'd take me to get to where you are?? Got a handy Lear jet?

annie