Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?


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Another thing they forget is that people actually like to enjoy their food, whenever possible, instead of simply obsessing over it.

I was waiting tables when Sideways came out and it was like a switch went off with people suddenly boasting they don't drink merlot. I asked one woman why, she thought for a moment then replied "It doesn't assert itself". I remember thinking it was a strange way to think about a beverage
 

I was waiting tables when Sideways came out and it was like a switch went off with people suddenly boasting they don't drink merlot. I asked one woman why, she thought for a moment then replied "It doesn't assert itself". I remember thinking it was a strange way to think about a beverage
Was hanging with some friends and one guy busted out some scotch one night. He started talking about different regions and taste profiles. One guy proclaimed that scotch just tasted like old leather and didnt get why people liked it. Didnt get our "snobby commentary" either. To be honest, im super picky about my scotch and only like a few, more of a bourbon guy. Anyways, we all started tasting and just sort of talking about whatever. After a few min I decided to be funny and it went like this:

Me: "Mmm, that is very bootstrappy for x region"
... pause for moment looks in my direction
Friends that like Scotch: "Yes, exactly what I was saying a min ago for this region." "Yep, bootstrappy is what I was thinking too" /winks
Friend who doesnt like scotch: "No..nope...no way is "bootstrappy" a thing. /Gets out phone and goes to google.

We have gotten him like this at least 4 times now.
 

I was waiting tables when Sideways came out and it was like a switch went off with people suddenly boasting they don't drink merlot. I asked one woman why, she thought for a moment then replied "It doesn't assert itself". I remember thinking it was a strange way to think about a beverage

This so reminds me of this:


“It insists upon itself, Lois.”
 



Mama Snarf definitely believed in the "sink or swim" method of teaching. It was harsh, but it did work. I mean ... that's literally how she taught me to swim. Just took me to the river one day when I was a wee lil' Snarfling and tossed me in!

When I was four years old, I really did learn to swim underwater by falling into the family pool when nobody else was around. When my mother finally realized I wasn't in the house, she looked outside to see if I'd gotten out (again) and was playing in the yard...
She saw me swimming in the pool on my own and loudly yelled at me...that dinner would be ready in an hour.


Speaking as a member of the American Gen X, you were lucky Snarf to have a parent around during the day to actually talk you. In the summer we were turned out of the house and told to only come back when the street lights came on or you broke a bone(s). Learning first aid was a survival strategy.

When school wasn't in session, I was essentially a free range child. If I wasn't coming home for the night, I was required to call my parents to let them know where I'd be... Mainly so that they could blame somebody else if something happened.


Whoo man, lots of problems with the class consciousness around here lately.

Yeah, I hate it when people aren't aware of the role their class is supposed to play... Wizards trying to be gishes are annoying.
 

something food snobs tend to forget is that not every one has the same access to food or ingredient choices.
It’s a blind spot for anyone prepping/teaching/rhapsodizing about food.

On another board, in another food thread, a bona fide chef asked me about how to make gumbo.* I’d actually seen him on TV talking about the resort he was in charge of. So I was pretty honored, and I got down to writing up a recipe.

I was almost ready to post it when I realized I’d forgotten a step. When I went to edit it, it dawned on me that there were other steps I’d skipped because- to me- they were obvious. But because I was planning on posting my recipe on THE INTERNET, I realized that people other than me and a trained chef would be reading it, so skipping steps was not an option. Some steps I drilled down on because- while technically simple- if screwed up would ruin the dish.

I was on the verge of posting it again, when I had another insight. I’m in America, and I can get most of the ingredients for my gumbo anywhere in the lower 48 pretty easily. And because I’ve been making gumbo for decades, those I can’t, I can usually find a decent substitute.

But again, this recipe was being posted on the Internet, being read by people from anywhere in the world, and without my experience. Hell- the chef was in Norway!** So I thought long and hard about the ingredients that would be toughest to obtain outside of the USA or would be otherwise problematic for people with certain dietary restrictions, and presented the best substitutes I knew of.

The process of writing that recipe down in detail for cooks of almost any skill level, with known key substitutes was the labor of DAYS. It was one of the toughest things I ever composed.







* I have no idea if he wanted the recipe for his personal use, for the resort, or as a source of inspiration.

** As it turned out, his connections meant he could basically get any ingredients he wanted from anywhere in the world, as long as there wasn’t a law against their importation.
 

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