OK. I didn't get to making Kreplach this weekend. But I've got all the ingredients and I'm armed with instructions from a certain expert in Brooklyn, so today's the day. It's colder than hell out, and I still feel like crap (though better than the other day), so, you know, perfect opportunity and all that.
I've got some writing to do this morning. I expect to update Deep Thunder in the next two hours or so. Then I need an hour in the shop. By early afternoon I expect to be kreplaching in the kitchen. I'll let you know how it goes, expect pictures and everything. I'll put up the recipe and instructions, should it go as planned - if it doesn't go as planned I'll post instructions on Plan B (turn the foil back on the Swanson Patented TV Dinner tray so the Tater Tots become crisp and brown). Also I'll be posting my award-winning clam chowder recipe.
Stand back, or put on an apron, this will probably get messy!
Well, I have no idea what Kreplach might be, but anything that sounds so Klingon must be full of awesome.
ReplyDeleteMake sure to take pictures. :)
GF woke up yesterday morning with flu-ishness and said, "Fine. teach people halfway around the world to make kreplach, but I'm sick here, now. Where's my soup?"
ReplyDeleteSo I made up a pot. And I pronounce it excellent. I also get to bask in the glow of good-boyfriend-ness.
We all win.
Shawn P., Kreplach is a Jewish dumpling. There's a variety of them, but I only do the beef ones that go in chicken soup. Yum. Go back a few days in Jim's archive for a more complete discussion. Or don't
Makes sense... I'm a bit behind in my blogification ceremonies of late. Although, now that the Christmas program is over at church, we're back to our regularly scheduled Internet time donations. :)
ReplyDeleteCome hell or high water, I'm making teh joooish dumplings today.
ReplyDeleteI will get pictures and process up. I will. Camera is charging right now. Meat is thawed. House is mine.
Hope your GF is feeling better, hope she didn't catch whatever I've got (I'm not implying anything here, I wasn't anywhere near your GF, I swear.) I apparently did give to my wife. Great.
Well it is better to give than to receive.
ReplyDeleteBTW Jim,
ReplyDeletePlease stop by "e" and put in your two cents on Don't Ask, Don't Tell under "Current Events".
KTHXBAI
Nathan, rg will do.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm... soooooooup... I've held off on my weekly grocery trip to see what ingredients I'll be needing to buy. :)
ReplyDeleteAs long as we're sending you places to respond to things, a friend of mine had questions about something you said in one of my posts, so I posted up a potential discussion opener. Was wondering if you saw it.
No hadn't saw it. I'll go take a look.
ReplyDeleteIs the video ready yet? er, soup. I meant is the soup ready yet.
ReplyDeleteReally.
Nathan, no. I had to run some errands. Got hung at the world's most incompetently run post office.
ReplyDeleteBUT, I'm starting the soup now.
Just as soon as I figure out what MWT is talking about. MWT, I didn't see the question. Hope I didn't offend anybody, I'm kind of a bull in the china shop sometimes (insert wife's long suffering eye roll here). Please, elaborate or point me in the right direction. Thanks.
Heh, just finished reading through the Don't Ask Don't Tell thread - nice job with bringing sanity back to it after Sgt E made a mess of things.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know I'm being terribly roundabout in my own thread. ;) I'll let you know if my friend is still upset after reading the latest exchange. Somehow she read into it that you thought just because she's fundamentally unhappy, she must therefore hate people. At the very least, maybe your last post will make you sound approachable enough that she'll cough up the courage to post directly (she's kind of shy). Thanks for the followup either way.
Ahhh, got it. Yeah, I can see that. Please, explain to her that I am a bonehead sometimes :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to imply that unhappy people hate others as a general rule - only that it is my experience that those who seem to express hatred and vitriol toward certain groups (gays, races, sexes, etc) seem to be themselves an unhappy lot - and especially unhappy with themselves. Larry Craig comes to mind. However I don't think the converse is necessarily true, i.e. unhappy people as a rule hate others.
What I meant to say was that I think it's easier to accept others as they are - if you accept yourself as you are.
I'll swing by and repost as such, just as soon as I finish making kreplach stuffing.
Oh yeah, thanks for the thanks on the e post. It always amazes me how otherwise reasonable people lose their minds and become extra sensitive regarding certain topics. Sarge E usually posts interesting and reasonable comments - and I've found him to be the voice of sanity in a number of topic threads. Then bang! today it got out of hand over a minor statement by somebody else.
ReplyDeleteMWT and Jim, Sarge kind of lost his mind on the RAH thread, too. But not to the same degree...
ReplyDeleteAs soon as Random Michelle asked the sarge to calm down, she IM'd me to apologize for seeming like she was steering the thread. Since I don't have any magical moderating powers, I told her to go ahead. The thing is that Sarge's tone gets my hackles up quite often, but since 1.)he seems utterly sincere, and 2.) half the time I don't know what the fuck he's talking about, I've never called him on it.
ReplyDeleteIf it had gone on much longer I'd have emailed daddy and asked him to turn the car around....or hit the banninator button.
And nobody asked, but tonight was chili night. Yum.
I stopped reading the RAH thread after 200 comments or so. Just same rehash. And I avoid any discussion that involves Aynn Rand - it's like trying to have a rational conversation with somebody who lives in a 'compound' on a remote ridge in Montana. For people who call themselves 'rationalists' they're anything but.
ReplyDeleteChili night, yep, I'll have to post that recipe too.
ReplyDeleteFor the record - chicken soup done. Kreplach dough done. filling cooling in the fridge, ten minutes and I'll be stuffing them. Smells good!
Ahh! I see you went for one of the recipe's that calls for cooking the filling first. I do saute the onions, garlic, chicken liver (sometimes celery), but that all gets mixed with the ground beef raw. Stuffing goes in the dough and cooks all together in the stock. Like I said, once its floated for a minute or two, its done.
ReplyDeleteI did - and it is fucking excellent!
ReplyDeletethe first test dumpling just came out of the broth. My son and I split it, blew on our portions to cool it, and burned our mouths anyway. Excellent, damn are those good.
I'm not sure how to fold them, started them like triangle turnovers, then did a couple like raviolis, finally settled for triangle then fold each corner in. Not having the benefit of a jewish grandmother I'm kind've working in the blind here - However, folding technique does not seem to matter, for they are truly excellent whatever their shape.
Nathan, you are da man, sir.
They're supposed to come out triangular, but I admit to being utterly incompetent at the folding. I'm told that using an egg yolk wash on the edges makes it work, but I think I'd need a third hand to make that work. Mine come out just about every damned shape you can imagine.
ReplyDeleteGlad your happy with 'em. My work here is done.
Jim,
ReplyDeletePlease try making Matzo Balls next. And if you succeed, please teach me how. Matzo Balls are supposed to come out all fluffy and soft. Repeated efforts by yours truly have never produced anything you wouldn't happily load into a mortar...and expect maximum damage downrange.
Every shape you can imagine.
ReplyDeleteGood. I just dampened the edges with a finger dipped in water. Worked fine. I settled on a little change purse shape.
Here's the problem - my wife doesn't get home from work for two hours. Would you back me up on it, if I told her that old jewish tradition required me to eat all of them myself before she gets here?
Ahhhhh! I've eaten two already. Must. resist. must. resist. Damn you Mister Spock and your cold blooded Vulcan logic! (if you don't get that, I don't want to know you).
I will post pictures and recipes after dinner. Two hours, maybe sooner. Much sooner.
Matzo balls. Roger. Will try.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just ate a third one. Burned my mouth. Gooooood. hmmmmmmm. goood.
You know it occurs to me that since half of this thread has occurred elsewhere in several places, anybody reading this this must think we are either linked telepathically or that we are as a group suffering from ADHD.
ReplyDeletethis tickles me. You people rock.
Kirk: "You're not going to admit that, for the first time in your life, you made
ReplyDeletea completely emotional decision based on desperation?"
Spock: "No, sir."
Kirk: "Mister Spock, you're a stubborn man!"
Spock: "Yes, sir."
ADHD indeed, sir
The needs of the kreplach outweigh the needs of the few?
ReplyDeleteGuess I'll add to the incomprehension by passing through again to say thanks for the clarification. :) Now to wait for her to wake up and see it (she's on almost exactly the opposite timezone from you).
ReplyDeleteMy impression of Sgt E is that he's very smart, well-informed, and completely unable to make his opinions known without refraining from gratuitously insulting everyone else. Also he can't seem to back down when he's wrong, and has no sense of humor. Some others seem to think that he resorts to antisocial tactics and word-twisting to avoid admitting when he's in the wrong (e.g. the Charles Stross thread). He seems to like being intellectually intimidating.
I liked what Random Michelle said. I agree with her.
The Ayn Rand thing in the RAH thread was extremely amusing for the way Scalzi snarked the offender, and how it completely went over his head. It's worth a read just for that. ;)
Also waiting for the kreplach pics. C'mon, make me drool!
Um, guys? I'm out of the loop, and my telepathy appears to be on the fritz. Where the heck did Kirk and Spock come from?
ReplyDeleteI'm so not one of the cool kids anymore. Sigh.
BTW, the RAH thread I was referring to IRT the Sarge was on the "e" under SF. He was a bit irksome to someone named "gottacook." I didn't get involved because, you know, I assume someone who posts on a BB can defend themselves.
Janiece,
ReplyDeletea little ways back upthread, Jim asked me to enter into a conspiracy that involved some arcane mashup of Jewish tradition and Mr. Spock yelling at him. I didn't totally get it, but I was threatened with unfriending if I didn't get it. So, I posted the most relevant Star Trek quote I could find. Which I consider an absolute fucking triumph (what with the not getting the relevance and all).
Once again, I crack me up. And you're still totally with the cool kids. Come sit at our table for lunch. There's soup. (but no video) ::grumble, grumble::
Heh, I saw the argument with gottacook and decided to skip all posts by either of them for the rest of the thread. Which is what I do for a lot of threads with Sgt E in them. The man sure does know how to pick a fight and not let go when he really should.
ReplyDeleteOK, first, see the Spock thing seemed extremely funny and relevant to me - because I was delirious from Kreplach fumes. Nathan played along - which makes him a great guy or a raving psychopath - either way I'm good with it.
ReplyDeleteSecond - I need to read the 'e' more, I've missed sarge E's ravings. I'll go look.
I laughed when MWT said My impression of Sgt E is that he's very smart, well-informed, and completely unable to make his opinions known without refraining from gratuitously insulting everyone else. Also he can't seem to back down when he's wrong, and has no sense of humor. Throw in an Hoorah! and that's pretty much the definition of a Marine, right there :) I'm kidding, don't kill me, David Klecha!
Where can I find that Sergeant E/Gottacook slash up?
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that when people start slicing and quoting blog posts back, in multi-sectioned posts, the better to more thoroughly refute/dispute, it's time to hit ignore and skip that post.
ReplyDeleteIt's annoying, because the basic question is really fascinating and I'd like to see it thoughtfully explored.
The husband has just caught a cold here, which times it perfectly for 7 days incubation and a cold for Christmas eve. Thanks!
Hmm... "I can keeel you with mah little finger!" was always my impression of the marines. ;)
ReplyDeletealtercation with gottacook
This one, about cell phones, is even better.
Jeri: I liked your response about your mom. Just thwack me if it's too personal of a question, but is she lesbian or bi?
ReplyDeleteHuh? Did I miss something?
ReplyDeleteFor a thread that started out as a post about soup, soup damnit, this has taken a surreal turn.
Coooool.
Ahh, I had read some of that first link, the RAH post. Lost interest when it turned obnoxious, then forgot about it. Didn't remember the cast of characters.
ReplyDeleteNever saw the cell phone one.
I take back what I said about the good sarge somewhere above. What a pompous asshole. Obviously one of those folks who's always right, always. The kind of guy who's a hero in his own mind. Gottacook wasn't much better.
That's one of the thing I hate about big blogs or big forums, eventually the asshole creep in and the fun goes away.
Well, you know. Continuing the trend to not talk about soup, I thought I'd ask Jeri the first question that came to mind at her Don't Ask Don't Tell contribution, but didn't want to ask in the more public Whateveresque. (But who am I kidding, if you're getting hundreds of readers a day, this place probably doesn't count as very private either.)
ReplyDeleteHopefully Scalzi will notice Sgt E at some point and give him a talking-to. I wouldn't want to see him banned, necessarily, as he does have some interesting things to say ... I'd just prefer that the way he says it gets toned down.
Okay, I'm back on track. Thanks, Nathan, I brought PB&J.
ReplyDeleteI'm on board with the opinion about the Sarge. On the RAH thread, I tried to make a comment about a question he posed (Should Poddy have died?) and he responded by PM rather than on the board, because he was apparently trying to illicit some kind of response from gottacook. TRANSLATION: This is the sarge show, please butt out. Whatever - his arguments were pretty boring.
Kirk: Unbelievable. Do you recognize those uniforms?
Spock: Mid 20th century Earth. The nation-state called Nazi Germany.
Jeri, I'm also interested in your Mom's story, if you have her permission to discuss it.
Jeri, Yeah me too - if you feel like it.
ReplyDeleteAnd frankly, I'm surprised the Sarge hasn't shown up here. He seems like the type to run down anybody who disagrees with him and continue to impress on them why he's right. I noticed he didn't fuck with me for more than one post though, maybe he's smarter than he looks.
McCoy: Once, just once, I'd like to be able to land someplace and say "Behold, I am the Archangel Gabriel."
Spock: I fail to see the humor in that situation, Doctor.
McCoy: Naturally. You could hardly claim to be an angel with those pointed ears, Mr. Spock. But say you landed someplace with a pitchfork...
"I signed aboard this ship to practice medicine, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space by this gadget." -- McCoy
ReplyDeleteSo quit sending me all over the galaxy, won't you, FooeyU?
You know, it's possible that the Sarge has shown up, and decided to take his ball and go home. The "regulars" around here clearly aren't very impressed, and no one wants to hang out where they're not wanted.
I think the whole lack-o-humor thing is the deal-breaker. Because seriously, don't we have enough humorless, pompous bastards in our lives?
Quit looking at me, Janiece.
ReplyDelete"Moooom, Janiece called me a humorless, popeye bastard again..."
You two knock it off, or I'll pull the internet right over.
ReplyDeleteSarge may have dropped by, was deceived by this camouflaged thread cunningly labeled "soup" and lost interest. In other words, the plan worked...
Or he saw us covered in chicken livers, and thought he had stumbled across some deviant furries party.
ReplyDeleteTrue, maybe he doesn't like chicken liver either :)
ReplyDeleteOr maybe he knows when to beat a tactical retreat - I suspect he wouldn't fair well here.
Shawn, surely you jest. Anyone who includes toe-socks in their video podcasts as a computing accessory clearly has a sense of humor, albeit a twisted and strange one. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteJim, a tactical retreat? Yeah, right. Have you read the threads linked by MWT? I'm not sure he's wired that way.
Well, I read some of them. I generally lose interest when the thread degenerates into asstardary between two people.
ReplyDeleteI've got enough people in my life who act like asses, so I try to not to go looking for more. I like blogs where the topics are interesting, make me think, and contain comments from people who themselves interesting, funny, and make me think. I usually avoid RAH topics 1) because I'm a fan of RAH and I enjoy his work, and 2) because inevitably the comments always devolve into sniping and ad hominem attacks. It's like a religion with some people - me, I just like Scifi, but I don't live my life by the Jedi code - if you know what I mean.
I do know what you mean. As you know, I'm a big RAH fan, too, but I'm not starting a religion or anything.
ReplyDeleteMy mom says she is bi - but her orientation is closer to the lesbian end of the continuum than the other end.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it was a tremendous surprise, I am proud of her for coming out (at least to close family and friends) at 70!
OK.. I posted my answer to the question re: my mom's military service and orientation before I read to the end of the thread. And sitting out there, after the RAH series of posts, it looks like soft core comment spam of the worst kind. :P
ReplyDeleteWhateveresque has an ignore feature, and I've thought of using it for Sergeant E - but what if he posts something interesting and I miss it?
Jeri, not at all. This thread has been pretty, uh, eclectic anyway. And frankly I have no rule about staying on topic or continuity (not that any of you yahoos wouldn't cheerfully break any rule I establish anyway :O ). And besides, I like it.
ReplyDeleteBTW, your mom sounds like an interesting and self-assured person. My spin is, you get one shot at life - you might as well enjoy it. Be yourself. You mom sounds like she is.
Jeri - I think your mom is awesome too. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd soft core porn comments out of nowhere is kind of par for this thread, I think. ;)
To bring back yet another topic out of nowhere: my friend read your clarification and feels much better now. :) (But she's still too shy to actually say so herself.)
Yay Jeri's Mom! Here's to being yourself, and letting the rest of the world kiss your shiney butt.
ReplyDeleteSarge may have dropped by, was deceived by this camouflaged thread cunningly labeled "soup" and lost interest. In other words, the plan worked...
ReplyDeleteHee! This thread is a great example of why I visit Stonekettle.
And yay Jeri's Mom!
BTW, the kreplach soup sounds awesome. I want to make some, but I'll have to wait til the clam chowder's done.