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Okay, it’s a funny-once, but sometimes that’s enough…
I need to go mow the weeds lawn. What weekend excitement is on the agenda in your more urbane areas?
Anne Laurie has been a Balloon Juice writer since 2009.
This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Don't Mourn, Organize, Open Threads
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Okay, it’s a funny-once, but sometimes that’s enough…
I need to go mow the weeds lawn. What weekend excitement is on the agenda in your more urbane areas?
This post is in: Excellent Links, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Daydream Believers
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“Democratic political strategist” Doug Sosnik has a piece in Politico explaining “How the left took over the Democratic Party“. I dearly, dearly hope Professor Krugman’s review is correct:
… For a long time, it wasn’t just Republicans who believed that history was on their side; a lot of Democrats seemed to feel the same…
But things have changed, for the reasons Sosnik describes and more. Democrats have, after all, won the popular presidential vote in five of the past six elections. Despite all the craziness & challenges, they have made big progress on their generations-long quest for universal health insurance. They have a network of think tanks that is a lot less lavishly funded than the right-wing tanks that is a lot less lavishly funded than the right-wing apparatus, but intellectually runs rings around its opponents.
And as Sosnik says more or less clearly, the craziness of the right in some ways empowers the moderate left…
How it all turns out is anyone’s guess — maybe we eventually see a California scenario on a national basis, with the growing diversity of the electorate and the evident madness of the right delivering an overwhelming Democratic majority; maybe we see some exogenous event tip the balance back to the GOP despite what looks like a trend the other way. But what I don’t think we’ll see, even if there’s a Clinton in the White House, is another Clinton era in which liberalism is afraid to take a stand.
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And as we all work towards that glorious day, what’s on the agenda for the day?
From our Food Goddess, TaMara:
I’m swamped with work, trying to catch up after a week away, so tonight in true summer fashion, we’re going to have a repeat. But it’s a delicious repeat. Last year, friends lent me their Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker to test drive, so I spent a week making various frozen treats, testing them on all the neighbors (I was very popular that week) and posted the results. This summer I bought my own Cuisinart, so I thought it was time to pull out the recipes and make some ice cream and gelato. After all, it’s just been too hot to cook. Perfect time for frozen treats.
While Gelato is by far my favorite, I played no favorites and included ice cream and sorbet in the selection. These recipes all make between 1 and 1-1/2 quarts. Here’s the lineup:
Vanilla and Strawberry Ice Cream (recipes here)
Blueberry Sorbet (recipe here)
Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato (recipe here)
What’s your recipe for fun this weekend? What delicious things are you cooking up for this final weekend of July (oh, how can that be)?
Now for the recipe that started the whole thing, the reason I borrowed my friends’ ice cream maker. A while back I was searching for gelato recipes and came across one for Key Lime Pie. It sounded awesome. I tucked it away, planning to try it someday. Someday finally came and I put my own twist on it:
Key Lime Pie Gelato
Friday Recipe Exchange: Ice Cream & Gelato TreatsPost + Comments (84)
Gelato Plain Base (recipe below)
1 graham cracker crust, broken into pieces and frozen (recipe below)
3 tbsps fresh lime juice, preferably Key lime*
2 tsp grated lime zest
Make the Gelato Plain Base and chill as directed. Make the graham cracker crust as directed and freeze.
To make Key Lime Gelato: Gently whisk the limejuice and zest into the base. Pour the mixture into the container of an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Just after churning quickly stir in the graham cracker crust pieces, reserving some for garnish. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.
*after you mix in the lime and zest, give it a taste and add more limejuice as desired. If you’re prefer it a bit more tangy, you can add up to 2 more tbsp without worrying about consistency.
Graham Cracker Crust
Note: You can substitute graham cracker pieces if you don’t want to make an actual crust. I just like the buttery flavor and texture of the actual crust in the gelato.
For the graham cracker crust: Mix 1/2 cup melted butter, 2 tbsp sugar and 2 cups graham cracker crumbs together. Press firmly onto the bottom of a well buttered 8×8 glass baking dish and bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Cool and remove from the baking dish, break into bite-size pieces and freeze in a covered container.
This recipe is the base for most gelatos, it’s also good frozen by itself:
Gelato di Crema (Gelato Plain Base)
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 large egg yolk
2/3 cup sugar
In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the milk and cream. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally so a skin doesn’t form, until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges and the mixture reaches a temperature of 170°F.
Meanwhile, in a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually whisk in the sugar until it is well incorporated and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Temper* the egg yolks by very slowly pouring in the hot milk mixture while whisking continuously. Return the custard to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and it reaches a temperature of 185°F. Do not bring to a boil.
*The best way to temper is to add a tablespoon at a time until you’ve added about 1/4 cup. Then you can add a full ladle at a time, slowly.
One final note. If you’re wondering what the difference is between Gelato, Sorbet and Ice Cream, click here for a pretty good explanation.
This post is in: Cat Blogging, Open Threads, Pet Rescue, Readership Capture
Remember little Ninnie, in Philadephia? Here’s an update from the lucky commentor who offered him a forever home, Shazza:
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to give you an update on that adorable black kitten that Anne posted last month. Well we met the lady who took care of the kitty at our vet where Smokey got checked out. He was too young (though the vet wasn’t sure his age) so we took him home, keeping him away from our other 3. We went back last Friday where he got his first vaccinations and tested negative for FLV-yay! We’re now trying to get the kitties used to him (cuz he has NO problem running up to them to play only to get hissed at). He is adorable, fearless and such a bundle of energy. In other words, typical kitten.His eyes are turning green now but his ears are still folded. He’s such a sweetie too. We met Carla at the vet that day and she was sad to see him go. But I had her friend me on Facebook where I’ve posted pics of him. I figure it’ll be around Christmas when we get him fixed. Hopefully by then, my other kitties will have accepted him as a little brother. :)
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Just after I got Shazza’s email, I heard from another commentor with an update on her rescue cat. It’s been some time since I ran any Early Morning Pet Posts, and I think we can all use some happy news right now. So… email me your best pet pics / brags (click on my name in the right-hand column, or use annelaurie (at) verizon (dot) net) and I’ll queue them up.
Starting on Monday, with Anna Maria’s charming Pita…
Friday Morning Open Thread: Ninnie, d/b/a Smokey (& Call for Submissions)Post + Comments (135)
This post is in: Gun nuts, Open Threads, Bring On The Meteor, I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own, OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUDS
(via Charles P. Pierce)
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On the original grassy knoll. Waving guns in defiance of the (current) “foreign usurper” President. At Dealey Plaza.
Stephen Young, at the Dallas Observer, explains:
As they’ve been doing on each third Saturday for months, advocates for the open carrying of firearms gathered — semiautomatic weapons in tow — at Dealey Plaza over the weekend. As usual the demonstrators, who call themselves Come and Take It Dallas, handed out literature and preened with their armaments of choice…
“Why are you not dedicated to the Cause?” And why do all those foreign countries stubbornly refuse to celebrate the Fourth of July, like the Bible says we should?
On the positive side, at least these people are out where the rest of us can keep an eye on them, I guess. If it weren’t for all the innocent passers-by, I’d suggest somebody toss a firecracker into their “rally” and see how many of the bold brave men soiled themselves.
Silly Season Open Thread: Come and Take It, Texas!Post + Comments (69)
This post is in: Excellent Links, Military, Open Threads, The Dirty F-ing Hippies Were Right
Another ‘natural conservative’ has publicly recanted. Here’s Thomas E. Ricks, “journalist who writes on defense topics“, in Politico:
In my late 50s, at a time of life when most people are supposed to be drifting into a cautious conservatism, I am surprised to find myself moving steadily leftward…
…[S]ince leaving newspapers, I have again and again found myself shifting to the left in major areas such as foreign policy and domestic economic policy. I wonder whether others of my generation are similarly pausing, poking up their heads from their workplaces and wondering just what happened to this country over the last 15 years, and what do to about it….
His triggers include Iraq (“I believe that the invasion of Iraq was wrong, not only launched on false premises but also strategically foolish”), torture (“I never expected my country to endorse torture”), “intelligence officials run amok”, “growing income inequality”, and gun massacres… among others.
… Not long ago, when I mentioned my unease to an old friend who is a Pentagon official—not in a political job but a professional one—he surprised me by confessing that he was feeling the same way. Exploring the thought, he mentioned in particular how disturbed he had been by the trend of “stand your ground” laws that seem to permit angry white men to gun down black youth who frighten them.
Where might this all lead? I am no better at predicting the future than anyone else. I think there are many others like me who are just as puzzled about where our country is at now, and how we got here. No doubt there are many reasons, though I believe there are clear signs that the Reagan Revolution, which made incentive-oriented, free-market solutions the default mode of both parties, is now finally petering out. I anticipate calls for more federal intervention, especially in areas where the public good is suffering, such as transportation and the cost of higher education. We may yet see a leftish generation of senior citizens, a group of aging Baby Boomers who can make common cause with a squeezed middle class and a generation of millennials whose careers have been damaged by the Great Recession while the top 1 percent have grown even wealthier…
Remember — this is in Politico, not the Nation or Mother Jones.
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Apart from sensing a shift in the prevailing winds (and, of course, wishing our Blogmaster better luck), what’s on the agenda for the day?
This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Gun nuts, Assholes
The NRA takes its role as the gun industry's marketing arm to its logical extreme:
http://t.co/k3HyVf9zwI pic.twitter.com/KROwGZlkiZ
— billmon (@billmon1) July 23, 2014
From Timothy Johnson at Media Matters:
A new commentary video from the National Rifle Association suggests we can live up to the Founding Fathers’ ideals by creating “gun-required zones,” and making gun training for children “necessary to advance to the next grade.”
In a July 21 NRA News video titled “Everyone Gets A Gun,” NRA News commentator Billy Johnson said, “We don’t have a U.S. gun policy. We have a U.S. anti-gun policy” that is based on “the assumption that we need to protect people from guns” and “that guns are bad or dangerous.”
Instead Johnson wondered what gun policies the United States would have “if we designed gun policy from the assumption that people need guns — that guns make people’s lives better.” Johnson then made the following recommendations that would “encourage” and might “reward” people “to keep and bear arms at all times.”…
Media Matters has the video, if you’re having trouble wrapping your head around this.
And even before we get into the weeds of who’d be paying for all this new mandatory training (not the NRA, of course, unless they get a Michelle Rhea-level markup on their proprietary materials), let’s consider how well the Red States already handle their Sex Ed education. (I’ll leave the ‘this is my weapon, this is my gun’ jokes to the ex-military commentors.):
* According to abstinence-only gun ed, handling your weapon for anything other than essential maintenance will sap your vital essence, expose you to contact-borne diseases like herpes and MRSA, and quite probably increase your chances of developing cancer.
* Lest we encourage shooting promiscuity, bullets will only be sold to those over 18 who show a proficiency license, and the people staffing the locked bullet cabinets should ideally be Quakers or Buddhists.
* In Tennessee, anybody who risks the safety of their innocent weapon by handling it improperly shall be incarcerated.
Add your own suggestions in the comments.
The NRA’s Newest Marketing Fantasy: Teach the Children “Gun Required”Post + Comments (150)