Circle Updates
Aug. 27th, 2025 05:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
havocthecat[food] today's adventures in EYB indexing: The National Trust Book of Puddings
Aug. 27th, 2025 10:42 pmkaberettSubtitle 50 irresistibly nostalgic sweet treats and comforting classics... featuring "Trinity burnt cream":
Also known as crème brûlée, old recipes for versions of this pudding are found in various parts of Britain and Europe. Its association with Trinity College, Cambridge goes back to at least the nineteenth century.
Despite my documented interest in crème brûlée and, you know, having grown up in Cambridge, I had somehow never come across this before?! And yet it's inexplicably clearly attested on Wikipedia. Nominally this means I should probably be indexing the "Ethnicity" of the dish as "English" as well as "French" but, frankly, je refuse, and even Trinity have the grace to say:
The story that crème brûlée itself was invented at the College almost certainly has no basis in fact.
It's not even like the National Trust is making a point of having all the recipes in this book be of British origin! Clearly-identified non-British culinary sources include Italy, Latvia, and Russia! (... the Welsh- and Scottish-origin puddings have headnotes mysteriously quiet on said origins, though.) AND YET. Crème brûlée! Trinity! Really.
france travelogue I: Paris
Aug. 27th, 2025 04:26 pmjazzfishNext time: Versailles, an awful lot of driving, Cap Blanc and Lascaux.
honestly I am impressed we got an approval at all
Aug. 27th, 2025 03:05 pmjadelennoxAmericans, you know how we did just get updated covid vaccines approved, but because of RFK Junior's fuckery, your insurance will only pay for them if you are over 65 or have at least one condition that puts you at higher risk? I want to assure you that almost everyone reading this probably has at least one condition that puts you at higher risk.
The list of conditions includes, among the more obvious things (ie. cancer and immune conditions):
- Disabilities, explicitly including ADHD, autism, sensory disabilities, motor disabilities, any limitations with self-care or activities of daily living
- Depression or other mood disorders
- Any heart condition, any diabetes, any asthma or chronic lung ailment
- Obesity (BMI >30 kg/m2 or >95th percentile in children)
- Smoking, current and former
and last but not least, and, I can't stress enough that this is literally on the list:
- Physical inactivity
My siblings in middle aged (mostly): if any of you have nothing on the list of underlying health conditions, I salute you. Even your kids have a non negligible chance of being covered under that list.
possibly the most constructive thing I have actually done today is hunt tomatoes
Aug. 26th, 2025 10:46 pmkaberett-- no wait that's a lie, I also investigated an apple tree. (Unremarkable eating apples.)
But! Tomatoes!
Pictured varieties: Purple Ukraine, Blue Fire, misc green stripey, Orange Banana, Moneymaker. Buried so you can't see it is a Feo di Rio Gordo. I did not get the whole rainbow I was aiming for this year (alas the Yellow Pearshaped all failed, as did the Known green stripey), but I'm nonetheless pleased!
back, ish
Aug. 26th, 2025 10:07 amjazzfishIt was a complicated trip and I can't sum it up as "good" or "not good". Some of it was very good, some of it was less good, nearly all of it was stressful in different ways. On the whole I'm glad I went.
Extended travelogue later. Catching up on two weeks of internet now.
heads up: important news post
Aug. 26th, 2025 08:55 amalthea_valara![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_news that you all should read carefully.TL;DR - Dreamwidth is forced to start blocking those accessing the site from a Mississippi IP address starting September 1st. This is because the state of Mississippi has passed a law requiring residents verify their age before accessing social media. As the burden of doing this is WAY HIGH for Dreamwidth (plus they don't want to do it anyway!), they have made the reluctant choice to block those users.
Dreamwidth is fighting the law in court with the help of Netchoice;
![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
denise is pretty confident they'll eventually win, but there's been a setback with one of the courts and thus are forced to take this action in the meantime.I know I have some UK folks on my access list - I have not read all the comments on the news post yet but the very first comment from
denise says the UK law doesn't apply to Dreamwdith because the number of users from the UK is too small.I continue to be happy that Dreamwidth is one of my homes on the Internet. I stand by and agree with their principles.
proto-stitching
Aug. 25th, 2025 11:46 amthistleingreyThe instructor, who judges handspun yarn at county fairs, brought us some roving. ( Read more... )
Beinoni by Mari Lowe (2025)
Aug. 24th, 2025 09:45 pmlannamichaelsSummary: Ezra Safran, age 12, is supposed to fight the manifestation of evil in the world when he turns 13. Unfortunately, evil is manifesting in the world and it's not even his bar mitzvah yet. And is fighting the manifestation of evil and vanquishing it really the right thing to do? A mid-grade book.
( Read more... )
vital functions
Aug. 24th, 2025 11:02 pmkaberettReading. ( Raymond Blanc, Ceri Olofson, David S. Butler + G. Lorimer Moseley, David J. Linden )
Watching. An episode of Farscape: S02E04 Crackers Don't Matter, which I note with mild alarm (given how "..." we were at it) is considered to merit its very own Wikipedia page?!
The Old Guard 2. I... might yet get around to writing up thoughts.
Cooking. An Salad. An improvised but definitely acceptable for its purposes (i.e. providing nutrition for someone who currently has some decidedly inconvenient dietary restrictions) chickpea curry.
Eating. BLACKBERRIES. Still. Also plums. Really enjoying the plums. So many tomatoes.
Also a box of Many Salads from Mel Tropical Kitchen, some mildly disappointing cookies and a Good raspberry pastel de nata, and another cardamom bun from buns from home. Hurrah for spending a day at the BL?
Exploring. Poking around the grounds of a new-to-me hospital, where I came across an Exciting Apple Tree that I totally failed to actually inspect more closely, and about which I am excited primarily because of just having read a book a solid, like, half of which was Reviews Of Heritage Apple Varieties. (I was a little sad that James Grieve got only a very passing mention.)
The BL! And Beckenham, a bit, while picking up a watering can.
Growing. LEMONGRASS HAS A ROOTLET. Having another go at rooting a bunch of supermarket tarragon.
Observing. We found BABY COOTS. At least five of them, possibly six, plus one egg. They are juuust at the stage where they are practising GOING INTO THE WATER and then rapidly deciding Don't Like That and retreating to the Warm.
oh you need fluff, fluff, fluff // to make a fluffernutter
Aug. 24th, 2025 09:13 amursamajorThough of course, out here on the West Coast, getting ahold of actual Fluff is more difficult; when supermarkets have jarred marshmallow product, it's usually Kraft's Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme, which is more liquidy. ... hold on, I can get a two-pack of Marshmallow Fluff from my local Cost Plus?! As in the same Cost Plus where my mom used to buy us Botan candy to keep us occupied while she looked at household decor? ROFL.
Of course I ended up down the merch wormhole with my search results; I'd rather have it as a long-sleeve tee, but I love the logo on this What the Fluff sweatshirt from the Fluff Festival. 20th annual this year! Pairs well with this Ice Cream Weather hoodie from Gracie's just across the square that I've been meaning to pick up for years now. As well as my What a Cluster! tee. And now I want Goo Goo Clusters and Marshmallow Fluff. At least Moon Pies have made their way to the Bay? I can get those at my local CVS sometimes now.
Cherry on top of all this internet wormholing: while trying to figure out if Fluff was sold in any grocery stores local to me (besides Walmart, ugh), I stumbled across their recipe section, and amusingly enough, one of their most popular recipes is Lynne's Cheesecake. I swear I didn't submit it - the recipe looks like a New York cheesecake recipe, and I strongly prefer my cheesecakes burnt Basque or Japanese cotton style. But now I'm thinking, maybe I should tackle a burnt Basque Fluff cheesecake. Though admittedly, on my cheesecake back burner, I also want to make a cheesecake with Poppy Bagels' truffle schmear, Wikipedia has just informed me of the existence of a smoked salmon cheesecake, and Kat Lieu just posted a SPAM Basque cheesecake. Time to reup our Lactaid stock!
And now, of course, I'm earwormed with the old-timey Fluffernutter jingle.
(Yeah, I know, an original Fluffernutter has no chocolate, but sprinkling some chocolate chips on top of one side and melting before assembly is pretty standard. Though IME hagelslag or vlokken work better, and of course you can also get hagelslag at Cost Plus, 😂.)
Darwin Festival 2025
Aug. 24th, 2025 09:00 pmtcpipA personal highlight was "John Schumann & The Vagabond Crew" performing the songs of Redgum. It's not my usual style of music, but they are the most notable radical Australian folk band that has ever walked in the country, and the musicianship was utterly superb. I felt like a teenager getting John to sign my copy of "If You Don't Fight You Lose", but I justified it on the grounds that I have been listening to this album since my teenage years; this will be a Rocknerd review. Another event also worthy of special note was "Duck Pond", a fusion of acrobatics, ballet, and theatre and a fusion story of Swan Lake and The Ugly Duckling. Understandably, I couldn't help but think of the RuneQuest scenario of the same name. Further, there is the excellent musicianship and storytelling of Fred Leone, whose self-taught upside-down southpaw guitar-playing is just a small testimony to his abilities.
Other events included a visit to the Northern Territory Art Gallery and Museum (MAGNT) which was hosting the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA), the video artistry of Shundori", the impressive and moving Zhangke Jia film Caught by the Tides, and the impressive aerialist performance of "La Ronde". In contrast, I was less taken by Bangarra Dance Theatre's "Illume", mainly because it didn't provide what was said on the tin, or the Sydney alternative-improv "Party Dozen", although kudos to the young punk local support act "Tang" who had plenty of energy and style.
The time seemed to go quickly, and the view of the Darwin harbour from my co-owned apartment always gives the opportunity for reflection, consolidation of thoughts, and quiet strategic preparation for the future. It is, without a doubt, one of the finest places for a short visit, and I can certainly understand why some people feel the desire to move on a more permanent basis, although I am a long way from such considerations myself. I will, once again, take this opportunity to thank Lara and Adam for their absolutely superb hosting and care of this Southerner's visit and for showing me many highlights of their home town. Doubtless, I will return again soon.
Aten't ded yet
Aug. 23rd, 2025 10:48 pmysobelA. My mom is an epic stress demon -- this deserves its own post but teal dear (or I guess TL;DW since it's not written up yet) early stages of dementia plus physical complications plus denial plus verbal aggression ... on top of the normal "treating me like I'm a teenager" and "calling multiple times a day" -- and I'm kind of boiling alive because stress and uncertainty
B. Speaking of boiling, today was the third day over 100F. Even with air conditioning and fans and cooling towels, it's way too hot
C. I have no sense of time any more. Everything is somehow too fast and too slow.
D. My brain is perpetually convinced I'm forgetting shit. Occasionally I actually am. But I'm basically living in perpetual anxiety.
E. Also I'm training new aides, which always sucks even when they're good
F. Phoebe is still cute af. So is Loki. The two of them are the only things keeping me halfway sane. If I can remember tomorrow I'll upload pictures.
facts of the day, courtesy of current book
Aug. 23rd, 2025 10:54 pmkaberettKoalas have fingerprints; hairy-nose wombats do not.
Skin on fingers and toes wrinkle in water not because cells get saturated but as an autonomic nervous system function, which we have apparently known since at least 1935. An initial 2013 study found that people with wrinkled fingertips could pick up and move more wet marbles in a set time frame than people with dry skin; a 2014 study failed to replicate this, but there's more at the BBC including a 2020 replication. (The 2013 reference at least is buried in the BBC article.)
Holding a hot drink inclines us to view people as "emotionally warmer"; a heavier clipboard inclines us to believe the person whose CV it's displaying takes their work more seriously. Many other related fun facts over here.
(Book of the moment: Touch, David J. Linden.)