July 26, 2018

Super simple sesame-crusted salmon

A quick and easy one this week. They had some lovely salmon (aside from the little mar in the skin you can see in the video) at the local fish store, so we thought we'd do this simple sesame crusted salmon for a video! People are frequently a little wary of dealing with fish, and it can be a tricky ingredient, but if you treat it simply and you're careful with your heat, it's actually very easy to deal with!

We made a couple of errors in this video, which you can see. 1) the knife hadn't been recently sharpened, so it wasn't QUITE sharp enough to effectively score the skin (which is why we ended up with that one very deep cut). 2) We overcooked it a little because our camera had a minor failure just as we were getting ready to take it out of the pan! Ah, the joys of trying to film time-sensitive food. Anyway, it was just a hair overdone, and came out delicious anyway. You can also do this with a salmon steak, and crust both sides. It also takes longer to cook (depending on the thickness) so you have a little more time leeway.

July 26, 2018

We are already well on the path to fascism. Please listen to this:

So, I started listening to this podcast by Robert Evans after I heard him appear on Cody Johnston (from Some More News and formerly of Cracked) and Katy Stoll's (also from Cracked) podcast Even More News. They had brought him on to talk about the situation in the Middle East, Turkey, and Syria as someone who had done some journalism there, had friends there, and was a bit of an obsessive geek about the situation, so had read a lot about the different groups and their interrelations.

So, Robert Evans has his OWN podcast called Behind the Bastards, which is a look at the (sometimes extremely funny) stories behind some of the worst people in history. So far he's done people like Stalin, Leopold II of Belgium, Bill Cosby, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Karl May (the author that Hitler was somewhat obsessed with), Harvey Weinstein, and Bill Cosby (among others). He also talks a lot about how many bastards there are behind the scenes for the big bastards to really get firmly situated. You can find the website for his podcast here:

https://www.behindthebastards.com/

This week, however, he had a whole enormous group of bastards to talk about on his podcast. He was talking about all of the non-nazis that led to Hitler's rise. Keep in mind, these were people who said they were not nazis, or even people who disliked and hated the nazis, but enabled and allowed the nazis to rise.

This podcast should be required listening. While you're listening, you may notice a couple of things. 1) There are some chilling parallels to what is going on RIGHT NOW in the USA and elsewhere. And 2) they are really restraining themselves from making obvious and terrifying comparisons to our current situation. The second point is intentional, and they wanted to make sure that this podcast would be accessible to as many people as possible. They didn't want people to tune out as soon as they felt called out, so they saved all of the comparisons to the very end, so you can pass this on to conservative friends and family.

I urge you to give this a listen, because it is chilling. Robert Evans is an obsessive researcher and has put together a really important look at how the very people who say they stand against fascists can enable and lead directly to fascists. I know it's a bit of atime investment at an hour long, but it is absolutely worth it.

Here is a link to the podcast from their website:
https://www.behindthebastards.com/podcasts/the-non-nazi-bastards-who-helped-hitler-rise-to-power.htm

Here is a link to the tweet that links to the iTunes version:
https://twitter.com/bastardspod/status/1022111777071550466

Here is a link to the Google Play version:
https://play.google.com/music/m/Dplzymfclc4bmwqhi7f6aoxpccq?t=The_Non-Nazi_Bastards_Who_Helped_Hitler_Rise_To_Power-Behind_the_Bastards

July 25, 2018

So. Fascism.

So. Fascism. I know the news sucks and everyone's exhausted and tired or the avalanche of bullshit and horror that's been raining down for the past while, but I just wanted to put a few things in the same place, all together.

First of all, Cody Johnston (@drmistercody in Twitter) has been doing really good work putting a bunch of pieces of things together to build a continuing narrative about the fascism that is building:

He used to do videos for Cracked, but now does this YouTube show, where he pieces everything together very effectively in the persona of a frustrated news anchor just trying not to lose his shit.



He also has a less funny podcast with former Cracked colleague Katy Stoll (@katystoll on Twitter) that is still very informative. It's them just talking about current events, mostly with deep frustration.

https://t.co/ALe0QhCe6N

And speaking of podcasts, I also listen to Behind The Bastards (@bastardspod on Twitter): Everything you didn't know about the absolute worst people in history. This week's deals with the non-nazis that led directly or indirectly to the rise of nazis in Germany:

https://t.co/BxJr3WFpjX

And that one's a serious time investment, but I highly recommend it, if only to see how the people who didn't actually like the nazis, swore up and down that they weren't nazis, and eventually suffered under nazi rule, enabled the nazis to actually come to power. And it's a familiar playbook. Fascists gonna fash.

Anyway, I just wanted to put this all in one place, because there are patterns that make more sense with more context.

July 19, 2018

Asparapeas!! Pan Sauteed Asparagus Peas Recipe

It's one of those mysterious alchemies of food that asparagus and peas go together so well. This recipe is only possible for a very short time during the growing season when you can get fresh peas and fresh asparagus at the same time (some years the seasons don't even overlap!). I was lucky this year, and the farmers market near where I work had both asparagus and peas at the same time, so we took the opportunity.

It's a super simple and delicious recipe. There's not a lot to it. Just a rough chop on your chervil (or tarragon if that's what you've got on hand), and a dash of some flavourful liquid at the end. We prefer lemon juice, but dry vermouth, white wine, or even a bit of rice wine vinegar will work in its place. The dish is a great side for grilled meat or fish, and should be served as soon as it's done.

July 12, 2018

Dill Cream Cheese Smoked Salmon Canape recipe

So, a bit of a simple one this week. This is a really easy and delicious canapé to make for a nice summer party. Takes no time, is bright and light in flavour, and is visually impressive, too. For a little added flair, you can pipe the cream cheese onto the cucumber segments with a little star tip, if you like. We like the simplicity of the quenelles.

You can switch things up in this. We feel like dill is really an important flavour component to this, but if you just really don't like dill, you can replace with something like tarragon, savoury, or thyme. Normally with cream cheese and smoked salmon you'd also expect capers, but we found that the pickled flavour sort of dragged down the freshness of the rest of the ingredients together. You're welcome to try them on here, but we prefer it without. Also, a little bit of fresh cracked black pepper is nice in the cream cheese mix.

Also, just passed 600 subscribers on YouTube! Thanks again to everyone who has watched, subscribed, and shared our videos!!

July 7, 2018

Trump Isn't Hitler (but he is a fascist) - Some More News:

Cody Johnston once again putting all of the pieces together better and faster than any major news organization. Not a very funny one this week, since it's about creeping American fascism (with a few creeps we already know about at the head), but definitely worth the watch.

July 5, 2018

Refreshing Gazpacho Soup

So, it's still stupidly hot here, so we wanted to make a couple of cool recipes that wouldn't require us to turn the oven on! This week we did a nice cool and refreshing gazpacho soup! This is a vegetable soup with a tomato base that is typically served cold. This recipe is also vegan if you omit the Worcestershire sauce.

Now, ours came out very spicy because we finely chopped a whole habanero in there. You can control the heat and flavour profile very easily just with a personalized mix of veggies, different kinds of peppers, or omitting the hot pepper entirely. You might also use red or yellow bell pepper in this, but I find that I don't like that flavour combination as much! There are also some recipes that call for a little (or a lot!) of vinegar, which you can use in place of the lemon juice, but we prefer the freshness and zing of the fresh squeezed lemon juice in this.

June 28, 2018

Easy Apple Rhubarb Compote

This is a follow-on to our pancake video from last week. Here's something to smother them in! I grew up with rhubarb, and we always had it growing in our back yard. Mom would cut the stalks (and remove the leaves of course), and a little dish of sugar, and we'd dip the tart end in the sugar and chew on it! She also made strawberry rhubarb pies and strawberry rhubarb sauces for ice cream, etc...

And now I'm in my 40s and I still love rhubarb. This is a recipe that my hubby used at his restaurant. It's super easy and really delicious. We used honeycrisp apples for this, but you can use any fresh and crisp apple. You don't need to necessarily use a very tart baking apple like Granny Smith for this recipe, because the rhubarb should be more than tart enough, so you can use a sweeter apple variety with a more interesting flavour.

This is also a nice fall and winter recipe if you want to toss a couple of cloves in there, or a stick of cinnamon to give it a little wintry spice. You can also control how firm the apples are in your final product by how large you cut them and how long you cook them. We let ours get slightly soft, but still with a little bite and texture, since the rhubarb will just fall apart during cooking.

June 21, 2018

Fluffy Pancake Recipe

Sort of a no-brainer, I know. Everyone's got a pancake recipe that they love, but this one is great, and makes lovely fluffy lofty pancakes. This is the recipe my husband used when he had his restaurant, and they were very popular. The trick for getting all that loft is separating the eggs and whipping the whites separately to then fold them in after mixing up the batter, and not over-mixing. The reaction between the buttermilk and the baking powder also helps!

This is a very basic recipe, obviously. We don't feel like it needs any extra flavouring like vanilla or cinnamon, but you're welcome to add those if you'd like. These are great on their own or, as shown here, with some delicious homemade compote. The one in the thumbnail is our homemade rhubarb apple compote, and we're putting the video for that one up next week. But they're also super good with just butter and maple syrup!

June 15, 2018

I am SO FRUSTRATED!

I am SO FRUSTRATED that the current thing is "Fuck Trump" all over the place. As though Trump isn't the exact end result of DECADES of GOP policies and party building. As though the entire GOP isn't completely complicit in everything that's happening. As though the ball that Nixon started and Reagan accelerated hasn't finally hit the wall, crashed right through it, and is now headed for a cliff.

Yes, Trump's gotta go. He's completely unqualified for the position, but about 80% of the GOP has to be completely excised from governing at all. There's a deep and strong cesspool propping Trump up, and focusing only on the obvious flashpoint ignores the forest for the trees. The GOP is LOVING this. Sure, some of them have the good graces to sound briefly embarrassed by how Trump comports himself (like Jeff Flake), but in the end, they're just tone policing. They are supporting everything Trump does because he's being informed and coached by business leaders and GOP leaders who see their wildest dreams coming true.

Also, they keep pointing back to the Democrats! "Well, this happened under Obama!!" Yeah, and guess what? Obama got a lot of criticism from the left for stuff like this. Setting up detention facilities. Drone strikes. The left criticized Obama for the infrastructure put in place to support drone strikes because 1) drone strikes and 2) the precedent that sets for future administrations. Well, guess what, HI THERE!

The damage the GOP has done under this administration already will take decades to undo. The number of far-right judges being installed and protections stripped away for the poor, for women, for POC, and for LGBTQ+ will actively harm citizens. It's not enough to say Fuck Trump. We have to tie Trump to the GOP like an albatross for as long as people can remember. We have to associate Trump with the weak and spineless GOP senators and congresscritter bootlickers who will do anything Trump wants so long as it makes them money. The whole party has to be held accountable, because they built this.

Trump didn't appear out of nowhere. He's the culmination of the right's love of authoritarian populism, and he needs to be permanently stapled to the GOP's image.