chromedome

Dial used to make a foaming hand soap that didn't make my hands dry and the corners of my nailbeds crack (this is when I still had my restaurants, and hand-washing was constant). Of course, it was discontinued, because that's just how these things go. I bought every bottle I could find in local stores, and when I finally ran out I went on using those bottles and refilling them by diluting the next-best soap I could find. Those eventually wore out, of course, and I hadn't really given any thought to the whole foaming-soap idea again until this thread. Might have to get me one of those dispensers (he says, contemplating his dried and cracked fingertips...).

Okay, we've debated the sustainability and environmental impacts of beef on here repeatedly over the years, and we've largely agreed to disagree and/or understand each others' positions on the matter (ie, "'It's not the cow, it's the how,' is not a scientific statement but literally a marketing slogan created by the beef industry"). And then there's... this. And even in the context of our current disenchantment with tech bros, it's kinda special. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/10/zuckerberg-cattle-hawaii-beef-environment

I don't recall seeing it here until... I dunno, the 90s maybe? We had our homegrown equivalents, mind you, called Kam and Klik.

Pertinent to that huge recall of infant/toddler food a little while ago: https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/01/chromium-found-in-lead-tainted-fruit-pouches-may-explain-contamination/

One of the big adjustments I had when my ex and I were first together was the issue of jars/canisters and their lids. I NEVER put a lid back on a jar or canister without tightening it. She, for her part, ALWAYS did so, but habitually checked and tightened lids before picking things up. That led to a lot of floor-cleaning, when I was putting things away.

Mine is the same, and at least as old. It was a gift from my father (a woodworker and a big fan of Lee Valley) a year or two before we moved to Alberta, and that was in 2003.

Space blankets are just thin sheets of aluminized plastic, which reflects energy (your body heat in the "survival blanket" usage, or sunlight if you put it behind a plant). They were originally developed by NASA for use in space, hence the name. Looks like this: They sell 'em at Dollarama, Canadian Tire, and places like that. I keep one in the console of my van (they're very small when folded) just in case I should ever run into a road closure or other issue while traveling to NS in wintertime. Backstory is here, if you're interested. https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2006/ch_9.html

"Dad jokes" ftw:

There have to be enough restaurant-related Herman cartoons out there to make up a full book. I would absolutely buy that. ...and they could almost certainly get another book out of the home-cooking ones. Let's call them, for the sake of argument, "Herman's Restaurant" and "Herman's Cookbook." you would think Jim Unger's estate, and the syndicate, would cheerfully leap at the chance to make more money from existing IP, wouldn't you?

I have three of the paddle type (one genuine, two knockoffs) and one of the long, skinny zesters, all of them gifts from friends and family. The skinny one in its slipcover lives in the utensil drawer in our main kitchen and gets used several times/week for zesting and/or parm; occasionally for taking a bit of cinnamon from the end of a cinnamon stick. The paddle ones are in a box somewhere in the barn since we moved, about 18 months ago. I haven't seen or looked for them in that time.

Hmmm. We've all dealt with seeds of uncertain age/provenance from time to time, but this is an extreme example. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/120221-oldest-seeds-regenerated-plants-science

I just tripped across an interesting wrinkle on the whole theme of induction cooktops that's targeting the (substantial) number of households that aren't capable of supporting full-power induction without electrical upgrades. Their solution? Battery storage within the appliance, so the induction coil is powered directly from the battery (ie, wattage not limited by 120V wiring) and the direct electrical connection is used only for charging. Apparently at least one or two other startups are pursuing similar solutions. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-05/bto-peer-2023-copper-street.pdf

A bit of food-themed geekery to start your day:

A sig-worthy philosophy, to be sure.

The tradition of eating greens and black-eyed peas isn't a "thing" up here, barring perhaps a small number who brought it with them as immigrants or acquired it by osmosis (if you will) through social settings like this one. My own equivalent ritual, as a freelancer, is creating my "2024 Invoices" folder.

The latter was common in my part of Newfoundland, where a lot of the families originally arrived from Somerset. "My part" in this context meaning "where my family hails from and where I lived as a teen, 40-odd years ago."

LOL The idiosyncratic pantheon of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels included Anoia, the goddess of things that get stuck in drawers.

Truffled gorgonzola sold under a couple of different brand names in Alberta and BC has been recalled for listeria. It's a really limited recall, because the cheeses in question were sold only in Calgary and Fernie (as far as we know thus far) but still... https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/various-brands-gorgonzola-truffle-cheese-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23