chromedome

I remembered that discussion and was delighted to see Rao's on the shelves at my local supermarket (Sobeys). Then I looked at the price, which was (IIRC) $14.95, and decided it's probably not that good.

Mine gives me three beeps - maybe five or six seconds - and then shuts off. I'm pretty sure that setting can be changed, and one day I'll finally remember to look it up. It's irritating, but I work around it. And use my cheap-crap induction hob for everything, though admittedly my "everything" is much less diverse (and demanding) than those of most present.

In Canada, eBay Classifieds (known here as Kijiji) are dominant, and Craigslist is a minor player that's...somewhat active in a few places. Kijiji has more ads in any of the big cities than Craigslist has in the entire country.

Kijiji. I was typing in a hurry and didn't want to get into the whole Kijiji vs Craigslist thing. It's something I've been randomly searching for every 4-6 weeks, for several years; but until now one had never shown up at the right price, in the right place, while I had the spare cash for a non-essential purchase. This week the planets just aligned for me (the seller was 15 minutes up the road from my mom's place, and we were already driving that way the next day to get to town).

IIRC, Peter Ustinov claimed in his memoir that "Bovril" was his first spoken word (I'm not at home this week, and can't check my copy for verification, but I'm pretty sure).

Not a truly glorious "steal," but I got a 1.8 liter Zojirushi "fuzzy logic" rice cooker in mint condition from the online classifieds for $50. List here in Canada for that model is $249 and actual retail prices range from as low as $149 (on sale) to roughly $179-$199 (regular price) at most retailers. A good-enough price for something I expect to last me for many years.

Very cool.

I'm at about the same usage level for my household of two. And we're not cocktail drinkers at all.

One of my aunts has a rather, uh...unique...method of checking steaks and chops for doneness: she picks one from the pan and flexes it. If it breaks, it's done.

...and it's not at all the same thing. https://www.inputmag.com/culture/leanne-brown-good-cheap-food-stamps-good-enough-cookbooks

A further look at where it's going... https://civileats.com/2022/02/14/what-is-the-future-of-organic/

Mine was dug-it-from-the-ground fresh, and it didn't work for me either. I suspect it works best with thin-skinned "soft-neck" varieties, while the stuff I grew was a thick-skinned "hard-neck" variety.

Not of direct concern to most of us here, I think, but several varieties of Similac infant formula are being recalled for bacterial contamination (salmonella and cronobacter). https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/certain-abbott-brand-powdered-infant-formula-products-recalled-due-cronobacter?utm_source=r_listserv

I hold mine together, double them back to half-length, and then tie a slip knot in them. They stay put, and my laundry remains un-entangled.

A friend of mine messaged me during the game to say "Sean McVay looks like the kind of guy who calls his mom 'Bro'," and now I can't un-think that.

I hear you. I have a dozen aprons neatly folded in a drawer, and while my shirts have an "elapsed time before getting food stained" of about two wears.

(Shrug) We can agree to disagree. There have certainly been more-recent games that were equally lacking; the Pats' suffocation of the Rams a few years ago and Peyton Manning's dour swan-song against Carolina spring to mind. I was still relatively new to the NFL game at the time, so the contrast with freewheeling CFL football was much sharper. As you may gather from the foregoing, I find the modern game more entertaining. Hockey has gone through a similar evolution, with the high-scoring 80s giving way to the stifling, close-checking 90s. While some loved geeking out on the intricacies of the left-side lock and the neutral-zone trap, and it certainly helped mediocre teams remain competitive with their more-talented rivals, most viewers found that the game had lost its spark. So the rules have been tweaked, and scoring and excitement have returned to the game. You had "crushing the quarterback and receivers," we had "guy who will pound the hell out of you if you take liberties with our players." Both have largely been removed from the game, which many fans lament but which will mean a lot more former players will get to remain functional human beings after their retirement. CTE is a terrible thing.

For me the game is "best remembered" as two teams trying very desperately to let the other win, with Cincinnati eventually prevailing. Opinions, as always, are subjective.

As a neutral, this shapes up to be a feel-good story no matter who wins. The Bengals have been pretty useless for the best part of four decades now, so it's hard to root against them. On the other hand it's hard not to feel that the football gods owe Matt Stafford some karmic even-up for twelve dreadful but largely-uncomplaining years in Detroit. The last time the Bengals made it to the Super Bowl was a genuine snoozer, but I doubt this game will lack for entertainment value. That being said, I'll probably just catch the highlights after the fact. The whole broadcast is just more time than I'm willing to invest, and I haven't watched a halftime show in years.

When I make the long-threatened suit of bubble wrap for my mom, I'll cheerfully do up a second one for you. Send measurements.

If you grew up on rolled oats for your porridge, as I did, that's not the texture (there's a reason I switched a an adult to steel-cut). It's probably closer in mouthfeel to Cream of Wheat. Or if you've had soft polenta at an Italian meal, that's basically the same thing.

I had to go looking for them, but they turned out to be available in the Health/Natural section at Sobeys so they're not too hard to find (they're not a "thang" on my coast, either). My sweetie had seen shrimp and grits many times on cooking shows, and wanted to try the combo for herself. It was a hit, so now I keep them on hand (Bob's Red Mill). Just had them a few nights ago, in fact.