Some people know how to quit a book as soon as they stop liking it. But many of us feel some sort of completist pressure to stick with every book we start, even when reading for pleasure. We struggle through stuff we don’t actually like, and so we’re less likely to pick up the book and more likely to pick up our…
Looking for something cozy, warm, and rich for dinner tonight? Here's a recipe adapted from my book, Not Your Mother's Casseroles — a creamy, thick, baked rice dish full of dark mushroom flavor. Topped with sweet caramelized onions and a flurry of pepper, it's one of the most satisfying things to eat when you're craving savory comfort food.
PETALING JAYA: A local driver who instinctively used his indicator light to signal his intention.
The post Using Signal Only Helps Enemies Cut You Off, Drivers Warn appeared first on The Tapir Times.
Jim PaullBland
When my grandmother cooked our family's annual Chinese New Year dinner, there was always a dish of braised shiitake mushrooms, dried oysters, and fat choy (a type of black moss) over a bed of baby bok choy. The kids would always giggle because the black moss looked like hair, which symbolizes prosperity for the coming year. I always looked forward to the tender mushrooms, which soaked up the sweet, savory braising liquid and helped balance out the other richer dishes on the table, but had never attempted to make it on my own.
Turns out it's not a difficult dish at all! Here's the version my mom recently passed down to me, simplified but still tasty enough to pull off for your own Lunar New Year or weeknight dinner.
If Valentine's Day had a mascot, it would be the chocolate lava cake. Luxurious and bittersweet, this dessert is Valentine's Day in a mouthful. And while I enjoy a romantic night out, there is no love lost for me in avoiding overcrowded dining rooms packed like the most elegantly lit tin can of sardines on February 14. Instead, I will spend Cupid's finest hour at home spooning a strikingly decadent molten chocolate cake out of the slow cooker.
Jim PaullOoooo
Curved TVs are plainly pretty stupid, but curved monitors, which actually bend around your head at a very close distance? That’s something I can get onboard with.
Jim Paull😂 😂 😂
In 2018, Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday coincide.
BOSTON: Chocolates and champagne or ashes and fasting?
That’s the question many Christians will face on Wednesday when Valentine’s Day and the Ash Wednesday holiday marking the start of Lent fall on the same day for the first time since World War Two.
“Can’t wait for Wednesday. I’m going to tell everyone: ‘You are loved and you are going to die,’” Christopher James, a professor at the Presbyterian University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, said on Twitter.
Christian denominations call on their members to make various sacrifices during the 40-day Lenten season that leads up to Easter Sunday, including fasting from food, reflecting and carrying out extra acts of charity.
In the United States, Roman Catholic dioceses with large populations of people of Irish descent often make an exception when St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Lenten Friday, allowing for the traditional corned beef and cabbage on a day when church members would normally be asked to avoid meat.
But church leaders around the country said no such exception would be forthcoming when Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day overlap for the first time since 1945.
“Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the only two days of the whole year on which fasting and abstinence are required,” Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo, New York, told church members in a video posted online Friday. “Those who are accustomed to celebrating Valentine’s Day might do so the day before. Join it up with Mardi Gras.”
In another interesting coincidence, April Fool’s Day and Easter both fall on April 1.
PARIS: Couscous may be a signature dish in North Africa, but steaming plates of the stew-topped semolina are also served up in West Africa and around the Mediterranean.
Since 1998 the Italian island of Sicily has been the unlikely host of the couscous-making world championship known as Cous Cous Fest, which bills itself as a “festival of cultural integration”.
Each September chefs travel to Sicily, whose Mediterranean location opposite Tunisia has made it a cultural crossroads throughout history, battling to be crowned couscous king or queen.
Palestinian chefs George Suheil Srour and Elias Bassous won the competition last year, with a couscous topped with grilled sea bream, pomegranate, and fennel crumble.
However, couscous has also long been eaten in Europe.
In France from the mid-20th century, an influx of North African labourers from colonial territories and French expats returning after decolonization helped popularize the dish.
But here too, couscous already had a history.
In his 1534 novel “Gargantua”, the French writer François Rabelais described banquets on tables featuring meats of all kinds, accompanied by soups and couscous.
The 1938 version of the Larousse Gastronomique, France’s hallowed food bible, featured an entire chapter on the dish.
Spain also has long been eating couscous, not least due to centuries of Moorish rule on the Iberian Peninsula.
“From the 10th century durum wheat was cultivated in Spain and couscous landed on the tables of the working classes,” write Hadjira Mouhoub and Claudine Rabaa in their book “The Adventures of Couscous”.
But the local aristocracy was rather partial too, they added – as related in the 13th-century cookbook “The Excellences of the Table”, by Spanish culinary expert Ibn Razin al-Tuyibi.
Jim PaullYup, extra carbon.
Hello sous-vide friends, and welcome to a brand new topic-picking session for Will It Sous Vide?, the column where I make whatever you want me to with my immersion circulator.
If you still haven’t outfitted your kitchen with a KitchenAid, you can get a brand new Professional 6 quart model for just $230, today only as part of Amazon’s Gold Box deals. That’s within $10 of the best price we’ve ever seen on this model, and though we occasionally see KitchenAids cheaper, those are usually…
Jim PaullIt's brader isn't it?
Jim PaullI'm sure it'll be good if people can fill out forms correctly.
Jim PaullAwww
Miscellanea Agnostica: Why did Republicans do nothing to stop this guy from getting their nomination?
Shakesville: Hillary's book reminds us what the country was cheated of when Putin stole the election for Trump.
The Rude Pundit: At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump bullshitted the bullshittiest bullshit in the history of bullshitting.
Yellowdog Granny: Images of the week.
Bonus link: This is happiness taking a walk in your brain.
Blog round-up by Infidel753. To recommend a post, send link to mbru [at] crooksandliars [dot] com.
Jim PaullI got 8/9 I didn't know about unions.
Food editor by day, baker by night, I spend a lot of time scrolling past recipes that simply don't work for weeknight baking at home — too many ingredients, fussy steps, and the classic "you want me to use what now?" The good thing is that all that time searching has also given me a keen eye for recipes that will be quick, easy on dishwashing, and use common pantry ingredients so that I can bake on a whim. If you're new to weeknight baking, these are some of the things to look for when choosing a weeknight recipe.
Jim PaullAwwww
With Valentine’s Day approaching, please spare a thought for Romeo the lonesome Bolivian frog.
Ten years a bachelor, the childless amphibian has had to enlist human help to mount a last-ditch search for a Juliet which, if it fails, could mean the end of his species.
Romeo, you see, is the last known frog of his kind.
And he has been fruitlessly calling for a mate from his tank at the Cochabamba Natural History Museum for years.
“We don’t want him to lose hope,” said Arturo Munoz, a conservation scientist associated with the Global Wildlife Conservation, which has hooked up with dating website Match to raise money for Romeo’s last shot at romance.
The funds will be used to scour Bolivian streams and rivers for signs of a female Sehuencas water frog, even in tadpole form.
“We continue to remain hopeful that others are out there so we can establish a conservation breeding programme to save this species,” said Munoz.
If Romeo croaks, he could follow the route of “Lonesome George”, a childless Galapagos tortoise who died in 2012, taking his entire subspecies with him.
Sehuencas water frogs live for about 15 years.
Looking for my Juliet
As part of the campaign to raise US$15,000 (12,200 euros) by Valentine’s Day, the team has created a Match profile for Romeo.
He is introduced by a video in which he shows off a variety of swimming moves.
“Hi there. I’m Romeo, a Sehuencas water frog from Bolivia,” says a sexy, Spanish-accented voice.
“I’m a pretty simple guy. I tend to keep to myself and love spending nights at home. I also love eating. then again, who doesn’t?”
His mobile phone profile, also shown in the video, sports a big-eyed, pouting cartoon frog posing in a seductive manner, with the words: “Looking for my Juliet.”
Romeo’s relationship status is listed as: “Never married”. Has kids? “No.”
“I bet you’re wondering what is a frog like me doing in a place like this?” the announcement continues.
“Well, I’m here to find my match, just like you. Except, my situation is a bit more… urgent.”
‘If you believe in love’
When Romeo was collected 10 years ago, said Munoz, “we knew the Sehuencas water frog, like other amphibians in Bolivia, was in trouble, but we had no idea we wouldn’t be able to find a single other individual in all this time.
“Romeo started to call for a mate about a year after he was brought into captivity, but those calls have slowed in the last few years.”
Compared to other frogs in the genus, Munoz told AFP, Romeo has an especially musical mating call, and has taught biologists much about his species.
It is a shy creature, usually hiding under rocks in his enclosure. It emerges only at feeding time, with earthworms and snails among its favourite snacks.
If they can raise enough money for travel and equipment, the team of scientists hopes to launch 10 expeditions to locations where the species was once common, as well as similar habitats, or places where nobody has looked before.
They will also scour streams and rivers for DNA evidence that the Sehuencas water frog may still be there, even if individuals cannot be tracked down.
If all else fails, Munoz does not rule out cloning as a means of preserving this amphibian species which, like many others, is threatened by climate change, habitat loss, alien predatory species introduced to rivers, and a fungus blamed for frog extinctions worldwide.
“So, if you believe in love and want to help an old frog out, please donate to my cause,” Romeo’s video concludes.
“Adios amigos.”
Jim PaullMeow(no)
NEW YORK: Tom Ford on Thursday put female empowerment centre stage at NY Fashion Week, kicking off the global Fall/Winter 2018 season with models prowling the runway as cat women, very much wearing the trousers.
If the biannual style fest battles an identity crisis as top-name labels flee to Europe, the 56-year-old Texan-born designer turned movie director was not one to let the #MeToo movement pass him by.
On the first day of New York’s first women’s fashion week since the sexual harassment watershed exploded, the Ford woman of Fall/Winter 2018 is an alley cat, a superwoman with a “Pussy Power” purse.
With barely a skirt in sight, the pantsuit ruled. Models prowled the catwalk, their legs enveloped in tight pants, leggings or opaque tights of red, orange, yellow and green leopard print – messy hair kept off their forehead protest-style with black headbands, owning the streets.
If pink pussy hats were the uniform of women demonstrators against the Trump administration – a reference to the president’s use of a vulgarity on a leaked Access Hollywood tape to refer to women’s genitals – then Ford’s cat theme took the play on words to another level.
Even without the animal print pants, there were jaguar and zebra print kitten heels, tight lame leggings, a riot of sequins, patchwork and snakeskin on oversized coats, and boxy blazers – belted for business.
All eyes were on the models’ pins; apart from daring cut-out backs barely skimming the top of the seat and cut-out waists, there were few flashes of flesh. Dresses were restricted to high-necked minis.
In a throwback to hip-hop models wore silver ball hoop earrings, and there were lashings of black – the colour actresses opted to wear at the Golden Globes to protest against harassment.
“Every single thing you design, at least in the luxury sector, has to be potent,” Ford told Women’s Wear Daily in an interview. “It has to be the most amazing thing. No one needs just another black skirt.”
“I get calls from our store managers all the time saying we need more things that are more expensive. When (they) say more expensive, they mean more special,” he added.
His models, led by 16-year-old Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, debuted a new collection of cosmetics called Extreme and were watched by the likes of Julianne Moore and Zayn Malik.
Red carpet empowerment
Tadashi Shoji tapped into the post-Harvey Weinstein world by offering women a sleek, powerful red carpet collection oozing 1940s Hollywood glamour, modernised with cutouts, pleating and plenty of black.
Women, he said, must never apologise for what they chose to wear or for wanting to look seductive – regardless of how male harassers may choose to excuse predatory behaviour given a woman’s looks.
“So I did very sensual, sexy dresses, this time. Our dresses are about the empowerment of women and making women’s body look beautiful,” the 70-year-old, Japanese-born designer told AFP.
“Women have the right to enjoy life. It’s ok. Why would you have to apologise? Men don’t.”
Real models
“Real people” modelled alongside the professionals at the quirky presentation of contemporary New York knitwear brand PH5, including a nurse and students from a nonprofit encouraging girls to code.
They showcased colourful stripy jumpsuits, bodysuits, sweaters and long skirts, all made of knitwear.
Colorful socks over shoes stretched up to the low thighs, with rockabilly-ish hairdos and dark glasses tying the looks together.
“We are trying to build a brand, fighting between what sells and what we really want to create,” said Wei Lin, 30, the daughter of a large knitwear manufacturer whose factory near Hong Kong makes the clothes.
Millennial pop sensation Taylor Swift and actress Emma Roberts, niece of Julia, are already fans.
Jim PaullIndonesia boleh!
A regional Garuda Indonesia flight missed a runway exit after landing got stuck on the taxiway and had to be pushed by manually by technicians and airport employees which can be seen in a viral photo.
The image already circulates in social media for the last 24 hours and shows roughly 20 people pushing the airliner back on track, allegedly because the airport didn’t have pushback equipment available.
After widespread speculation about the cause of this incident made the rounds a spokesman for Garuda Indonesia said that the plane didn’t have a technical fault but that the pilots took a wrong turn to exit the runway post landing and that the aircraft got stuck at that position.
An Indonesian travel site detiktravel featured the incident already (access here in local Bahasa language).
The following is ac excerpt via Google Translate:
Garuda Indonesia’s senior manager for Public Relations Ikhsan Rosan confirmed the authenticity of the photo, but denied that the jet had to be manually pushed back because it had broken down.
“The incident occurred today at Tambolaka Airport [in Southwest Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara],” Mr. Ikhsan said.
“After the plane landed, it should have turned left towards the apron. However, the plane missed the left turn slightly.”
Mr. Ikhsan added that the airport was ill-equipped which prevented to push the plane back with the aid of machines.
“There was no push back vehicle available requiring the plane to be pushed by technicians and employees at the airport,” he said.
Meanwhile some hilarious pictures and meme’s made the rounds on the internet but above picture which is the clearest shot I found has been take by Twitter user @ngabdul (see here).
Conclusion
It looks pretty funny but that’s certainly not an easy task to move the plane around by ones own two hands (times 20). Strange that the airport couldn’t help out here, I wonder how the plane usually parks without a push back truck. Probably a remote stand with plenty of space to each side so it can roam freely.
Jim PaullGood baseline idea.
This winter has been particularly cold in the Midwest. To help warm things up, I plan on making every spicy dish I know. This recipe brings the heat, packs a flavor punch, and, best of all, is made in the slow cooker so your hands-on cooking time is minimal. A win for everyone!
Netflix just released a new trailer for David Chang's upcoming documentary series, Ugly Delicious, and it looks very exciting. The show will start streaming on the service on February 23, and the new trailer is just enough to make us hungry for more.
Jim PaullMmmm
After following the Whole30 last year I learned two things: This style of eating requires a fair amount of cooking, and it's extremely helpful to have an arsenal of recipes you can turn to again and again. That's where our function to save recipes really comes in handy, and so many of you have been taking advantage of it. Of all the recipes saved last month, these were our most popular Whole30-compliant recipes.
Jim PaullMmmm
To the uninitiated: Puppy chow is an irresistible, dessert-leaning snack mix with chocolate-coated Chex cereal at its base. It really has everything going for it, with its mix of M&Ms, cinnamon hearts, and white-chocolate coated Chex. This guaranteed crowd-pleaser is made for sharing and comes together without needing to turn on the oven.
Jim PaullMmmmm
I love a Whitman’s sampler, but I buy those for myself February 15th, at Walgreens, when they are half-off. Though I’m not one to turn down a box of chocolate on Valentine’s Day, giving them can feel a little impersonal, and we can do better.
Jim PaullUmmm... No.
Since we’re all doing push-ups this February, let’s take a minute to chat about how things are going, and how we’re all managing to get those push-ups in.
Hectic mornings are standard in my house. With barely enough time to gather an armload of books, bags, and lunches before racing out the door, breakfast is often a grab-and-go affair. Instead of scrambling cheesy eggs as the school bus pulls up, I quickly warm my make-ahead cheesy frittata cups.
A trio of cheeses — ricotta, Parmesan, and Fontina — season the eggs and add creamy richness. The mini frittatas puff beautifully, like a souffle, in the oven before settling slightly — perfect for eating out of hand or between a split English muffin.
If the NBA is any indication, men’s leggings are in right now, and you can pick up a few pairs of your own for just $12 each today on Amazon.
Jim PaullInstant coffee no.
Reddit is a host to countless places for talking about everything from Star Wars to sewing. There are over a million discussion communities on basically every subject you could think of, from personal finance to relationship drama. There's even a whole subreddit about pictures of clouds.
Jim PaullMkay
The sponge is possibly the grossest thing in your house. I say this as someone who regularly comes home from holding a subway pole and immediately eats finger food (it’s builds character!), but still the sponge disgusts me. It is, by nature, a festering cesspool of germs, a wet thing used to clean dirty things that…
