Dark Shadow's Surprisingly Well-Lit Random Banter #217

[Peelee]

Define "saucier"

Why, when yours is so perfect?

[Insane Jeenyus]

Uh... no. It would ruin it. This brown sauce is a bland gravy made by melting butter, frying flour and adding water & a beef stock cube. Balsamic vinegar would **** it all up.

ah, you crazy finns!



I am still going to try it. I like using my own beef stock seasoned with the same as what I used on the meat. Yummers!

[Florian]

I'll just call all of the rest of you sauce elitists from now on.

Maybe? Worked late-shift as a line cook in a two star restaurant for some years to finance university and that taught me a lot about efficient (french-style) cooking.
Cooking always stayed by hobby and I can state with pretty much confidence that I'm good at it.

[Knaight]

Say what you want, but the French put method and thought to the culinary arts, especially when it comes to avoiding waste and using anything there is available.
Warkitty is pretty much correct at pointing out that there're "Mother Sauces" that you should learn to cook by rote and that you can do endless variations based on these, fitting for nearly any dish.

Plenty of dishes are better with other sauces though. Teriyaki sauce isn't likely to be replaced by a Mother Sauce well at all, as just one obvious example. The Mother Sauces don't work too well with the five major spices of Schezuan cooking, as another.

Last time I had mashed potatoes, I had them with ginger, garlic, lemon pepper, and soy sauce. It was delicious.

[Florian]

Plenty of dishes are better with other sauces though. Teriyaki sauce isn't likely to be replaced by a Mother Sauce well at all, as just one obvious example. The Mother Sauces don't work too well with the five major spices of Schezuan cooking, as another.

Last time I had mashed potatoes, I had them with ginger, garlic, lemon pepper, and soy sauce. It was delicious.

Less reflex, more thinking, friend Knaight.

Edit: Notice the major point being about efficiency and reducing waste. Yes, going for, say, japanese style cuisine is good, but you also have to stock the basics to do it, from soy sauce, mirin, sake, learn to do your basic Dash and so on. But that is missing the point, which is "do more with less".

[2D8HP]

I think we all have seen some threads gone way off course, does anyone have any favorites?

Threads are at their best when the run free!

Such great threads as

First time DM'ing and already killed a character

and

My players have rescued a bunch of Drow kids

And more recently:

How can someone be fit without going to the gym? Also, I hate sports.

can't have thrived caged!

Their awesomicity shines as an example to us all!

As I recall, a gifted but alcoholic scientist and his long suffering wife who were the only humans on a coastal island fend off the marauding threads until they discover that seawater dissolves them.

....or was it the cold virus that defeats the wild threads?

But... when threads reach the age of thirty they can "renew" by going to Carousel.

Unless they run for Sanctuary...

...... SOYLENT THREADS ARE PEOPLE! PEOPLE I TELL YOU!

"Even a thread who is pure in heart and says their prayers by night may run amok when the wolfbane blooms and Autumn moon is bright."

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of threads?

The Forum knows."

In celebration of all the wild creatures threads:

♫ Born free, as free as the wind blows ♫

As free as the grass grows
Born free to follow your heart

Live free and beauty surrounds you
The world still astounds you
Each time you look at a star

Stay free where no walls divide you
You're free as the roaring tide
So there's no need to hide

Born free and life is worth living
But only worth living
'Cause you're born free

Stay free where no walls divide you
You're free as the roaring tide
So there's no need to hide

Born free and life is worth living
But only worth living
♫ 'Cause you're born free ♫

Also, I hate sports

[Knaight]

Less reflex, more thinking, friend Knaight.

Edit: Notice the major point being about efficiency and reducing waste. Yes, going for, say, japanese style cuisine is good, but you also have to stock the basics to do it, from soy sauce, mirin, sake, learn to do your basic Dash and so on. But that is missing the point, which is "do more with less".

That's hardly unique to french cooking though - a wide variety of dishes can be made out of a lot of different sets of staple foods, and claiming that the Mother sauces are a good fit for almost any dish is extremely questionable. If you've got a different set of staple foods they're often just wrong.

Notably, French food is really heavy on flour and dairy. If your staples involve flour, milk, butter, and cheese you've got a lot of options from french food. If your staples involve rice, lentils, and vegetable oils, not so much. Heck, if your staples involve flour, olives, and fish it doesn't work that well. You have to stock the basics regardless, there's no advantage to French food in particular here unless you just assume that you already have those basics and that anything else is extra.

Japanese food was just one example, but much like French food you see the same approach towards reducing waste and doing a lot with a little. The standard dashi is a couple of ingredients used more than once for broths of varying strength, which in combination with only a few more ingredients also allows for a lot of variety. More than that, these alternate staples let you do all sorts of stuff you can't do with French cooking (and vice versa).

[WarKitty]

Say what you want, but the French put method and thought to the culinary arts, especially when it comes to avoiding waste and using anything there is available.
Warkitty is pretty much correct at pointing out that there're "Mother Sauces" that you should learn to cook by rote and that you can do endless variations based on these, fitting for nearly any dish.

Mostly it's a good principle because they're sauces based on what you make at home with fairly cheaply available ingredients. So you can get a lot of variety without having to spend a lot of money on prepackaged sauces.

Edit: This is assuming also that you're dealing with a general western world grocery store, as most of us are. So you probably have easier and cheaper access to butter, flour, and eggs than to things like ****ake mushrooms or dried fish.

[Algeh]

I'm definitely more from the French "mother sauces" side of cooking in how I learned to cook, but I suspect that there's a similar (in the sense of "everything else you tend to build from these starting points", not in the sense of "also made with flour and dairy") set of sauces in most cuisines, so it's a case of which staples you tend to keep around the house and whether or not they play well with each other.

I doubt hollandaise would freeze well because I remember it being a fussy thing in terms of wanting to turn into scrambled eggs if you didn't get the emulsion right, and I suspect that freezing would break it. I've never tried, though. (Frozen dinners with "hollandaise" sauce probably use something else to hold it all together that wouldn't be in a real hollandaise sauce. I know the jarred sauces do.) I am generally too lazy to make hollandaise sauce in the morning instead of just making omelettes instead of eggs benedict, so it's been a while since I've made it. (For some reason, separating eggs is one of those things that just seems like more trouble than it's worth to me unless it's a special occasion. Probably because I can never figure out what to do with whichever part of the egg the recipe didn't need so I end up either wasting food or making something weird to use it up.)

[LaZodiac]

Today my boss tried to threaten me with the possibility of getting fired for taking a vacation. That is not a thing they are allowed to do.

Go jump off a cliff you ****ing bitch.

[Bartmanhomer]

Today my boss tried to threaten me with the possibility of getting fired for taking a vacation. That is not a thing they are allowed to do.

Go jump off a cliff you ****ing bitch.

Some bosses are like that. Trust me, I have one at my last job and it's was a disaster.

[Peelee]

Today my boss tried to threaten me with the possibility of getting fired for taking a vacation. That is not a thing they are allowed to do.

Go jump off a cliff you ****ing bitch.

Note to self: move to Canada.

[DataNinja]

Today my boss tried to threaten me with the possibility of getting fired for taking a vacation. That is not a thing they are allowed to do.

Go jump off a cliff you ****ing bitch.

Oh, geez, Zodi.
Sucks when your co-workers/bosses are... less than great.

Note to self: move to Canada.

Don't worry. We have plenty of room. Especially if you go up a little bit north.

[AuthorGirl]

Note to self: move to Canada.

Yes, do that, it's very nice here.

[HalfTangible]

Today my boss tried to threaten me with the possibility of getting fired for taking a vacation. That is not a thing they are allowed to do.

Go jump off a cliff you ****ing bitch.

Note to self: don't move to Canada

[LaZodiac]

Note to self: don't move to Canada

You're missing the point that this isn't actually BAD because they can't actually fire me for taking a vacation, HT

[HalfTangible]

You're missing the point that this isn't actually BAD because they can't actually fire me for taking a vacation, HT

Zodi, I once hit someone's car with a line of shopping carts (breaking their rear lights) and my job was never in question (as far as I know) until I quit because of schedule conflicts and my manager begged me to come back.

They can't fire you for taking a vacation. Fine. This is still a threat that is being made and that they will probably try to follow through on to some extent or another regardless because judging from our conversations your employers do not strike me as intelligent people

Also Canada is f#@$ing cold.

[LaZodiac]

Zodi, I once hit someone's car with a line of shopping carts (breaking their rear lights) and my job was never in question (as far as I know) until I quit because of schedule conflicts and my manager begged me to come back.

They can't fire you for taking a vacation. Fine. This is still a threat that is being made and that they will probably try to follow through on to some extent or another regardless because judging from our conversations your employers do not strike me as intelligent people

Also Canada is f#@$ing cold.

They're just trying to hedge their bets on a mistake they made. It's not my fault they've dug their own hole, now they can lay in it. Gettin' me a vay-caaay.

This is valid reasoning though it's been around -48ish to -50ish Celcius for the whole week.

[Teddy]

Zodi, I once hit someone's car with a line of shopping carts (breaking their rear lights) and my job was never in question (as far as I know) until I quit because of schedule conflicts and my manager begged me to come back.

I assume your employer had trouble finding (good) employees? Lacking enough personnel to staff your business does make one of your current ones quitting sting quite a bit, after all.

Also, the fact that you consider accidentally damaging someone else's property a valid ground for firing someone still says quite a lot...

They can't fire you for taking a vacation. Fine. This is still a threat that is being made and that they will probably try to follow through on to some extent or another regardless because judging from our conversations your employers do not strike me as intelligent people

And if they do that despite the laws, you can take legal action against them, and even the stupid employers tend to be aware of that possibility.

[Peelee]

This is valid reasoning though it's been around -48ish to -50ish Celcius for the whole week.

Note to self: forget Canada, move deeper into Alabama.

[Florian]

Mostly it's a good principle because they're sauces based on what you make at home with fairly cheaply available ingredients. So you can get a lot of variety without having to spend a lot of money on prepackaged sauces.

Edit: This is assuming also that you're dealing with a general western world grocery store, as most of us are. So you probably have easier and cheaper access to butter, flour, and eggs than to things like ****ake mushrooms or dried fish.

Point of view and experience, when you come down to it. I was born and raised in post-war rural Bavaria and that was a long shot from being a "1st World technological powerhouse" at that time and more like a 3rd world backwater country that doesn't know the power of a modern supply chain.

[gooddragon1]

Do you think ham can steam, even on the battlefield?
“A STRONG MAN DOESN’T NEED TO PURCHASE FAST FOOD. HE MAKES HIS OWN.”
Steamed Hams Rising: Revengeance

[DataNinja]

This is valid reasoning though it's been around -48ish to -50ish Celcius for the whole week.

Move to Victoria instead. Rarely does it even dip into the negatives. You do need to deal with a fair bit of rain most of the year, though. The first 's' in 'West Coast' isn't silent for nothing.

[Peelee]

Move to Victoria instead. Rarely does it even dip into the negatives. You do need to deal with a fair bit of rain most of the year, though. The first 's' in 'West Coast' isn't silent for nothing.

You have succeeded in turning my perception of Canada into a hellish wasteland. This is not what Corner Gas promised me.

[DataNinja]

You have succeeded in turning my perception of Canada into a hellish wasteland. This is not what Corner Gas promised me.

No, no, don't worry. We just have Hell's Gate here. Easy mistake to make.

[Peelee]

No, no, don't worry. We just have Hell's Gate here. Easy mistake to make.

Coastal southern British Columbia has a mild, rainy oceanic climate. The coldest temperature in British Columbia was recorded in Smith River, where it dropped to −74 °F on January 31, 1947, one of the coldest readings recorded anywhere in North America.

Birmingham has a humid subtropical climate, characterized by hot summers, mild winters, and abundant rainfall. The record low is −10 °F, set on February 13, 1899.

Frozen hellscape, I say!

[HalfTangible]

Also, the fact that you consider accidentally damaging someone else's property a valid ground for firing someone still says quite a lot...

To be fair:
A) I was the only person who thought that, and
B) We're not talking about smushing someone's bread, I damaged a car.

This is valid reasoning though it's been around -48ish to -50ish Celcius for the whole week.

I barely hit freezing down here! Sometimes (as in once every few years) it snows enough to make a footprint!

[Knaight]

Frozen hellscape, I say!

When you're used to a cross between a sauna and an oven, sure. Meanwhile those of us in the parts of the states which have mountains that actually get snowy once in a while are busy chuckling at that -10 F record.

Heck, I was working outside in -10 F earlier this month. Granted, that was when I had the misfortune of going up to Wyoming, but still.

[Peelee]

When you're used to a cross between a sauna and an oven, sure. Meanwhile those of us in the parts of the states which have mountains that actually get snowy once in a while are busy chuckling at that -10 F record.

Cross between a sauna and a steam room, thankyouverymuch. I went to the Southwest one time. Damn near choked on that dry, oven-like air.

Also, you go ahead and chuckle at that -10º, I'll be here in my t-shirt and shorts swinging in my hammock. At least, i was a few days ago. Damn winter came back the other day...

[Insane Jeenyus]

No, no, don't worry. We just have Hell's Gate here. Easy mistake to make.

and hell is in Michigan.

interestingly, there are 29 "Hell's gates" listed in the world by Wikipedia.