Random, stupid things on your mind

[KSM]

Most people put far too much ricotta in their lasagnas. It's all about the ratio, we must have balance - and the piece must hold it's shape when cut out of the pan and placed on the plate but it must NOT be holding it's shape because it is dry. Yucky.   I have stopped adding spinach, period! I use to add spinach to a cottage cheese layer and it was ok.. but I've found a much better way. Another mistake church lady types and grammas around the world make it having an inconsistency within the consistency of the meat! You'll get large chinks of burger mixed with small chunks and so on. We must pulse our cooked meat mixture in the food processor resulting in a beautiful meaty texture that is pleasing to the eater. This must also be done with taco meat.         I am very civilized.

[GravitySucks]

Most people put far too much ricotta in their lasagnas. It's all about the ratio, we must have balance - and the piece must hold it's shape when cut out of the pan and placed on the plate but it must NOT be holding it's shape because it is dry. Yucky.   I have stopped adding spinach, period! I use to add spinach to a cottage cheese layer and it was ok.. but I've found a much better way. Another mistake church lady types and grammas around the world make it having an inconsistency within the consistency of the meat! You'll get large chinks of burger mixed with small chunks and so on. We must pulse our cooked meat mixture in the food processor resulting in a beautiful meaty texture that is pleasing to the eater. This must also be done with taco meat.         I am very civilized.

You’re not civilized if you don’t use Italian sausage

[KSM]

You’re not civilized if you don’t use Italian sausage

What, you want my complete recipe? That almost sounded aggressive   I do in fact use spicy Italian sausage as 50 percent of the meat mixture. Of course the other 50 is a high quality ground beef. I will also add some fine asiago to the mixture with some caramelized onion and sweated garlic from warm butter.

So you see, I. AM. CIVILIZED.

Goodnight.

[GravitySucks]

What, you want my complete recipe? That almost sounded aggressive   I do in fact use spicy Italian sausage as 50 percent of the meat mixture. Of course the other 50 is a high quality ground beef. I will also add some fine asiago to the mixture with some caramelized onion and sweated garlic from warm butter.

So you see, I. AM. CIVILIZED.

Goodnight.

You have been granted temporary civility status.

Fresh oregano and basil?

[PB]

Fucking onions

Apparently due to drought and flooding, there is an onion crisis in India.  The president decreed no onions can be exported, merchants are forbidden to hoard them.

Last time I went to India (years ago), I packed scotch and cigarettes to spread around, as needed (at the time, India wasn't allowing foreign exchange to be spent on foreign made consumer goods, so they mfg their own booze and cigs).  Hell, go now and pack onions.

[GravitySucks]

Apparently due to drought and flooding, there is an onion crisis in India.  The president decreed no onions can be exported, merchants are forbidden to hoard them.

Last time I went to India (years ago), I packed scotch and cigarettes to spread around, as needed (at the time, India wasn't allowing foreign exchange to be spent on foreign made consumer goods, so they mfg their own booze and cigs).  Hell, go now and pack onions.

Hey @PB

I spent 3 days in Siem Reap. The street urchin souvenir vendors were a real pain in the ass. Much more aggressive than what I encountered in Thailand. I didn’t like the food or the prices there either. 

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

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[Spookcat]

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[Evil Twin Of Zen]

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[PB]

Hey @PB

I spent 3 days in Siem Reap. The street urchin souvenir vendors were a real pain in the ass. Much more aggressive than what I encountered in Thailand. I didn’t like the food or the prices there either.

I've been pretty lucky not encountering swarms of street kids.  I think tourist infrastructure has been built up considerably in places I've been since I was there, and back-pack tourists who get to these places first aren't exactly known for over-tipping.

What I hate are the monkeys that live at some of the major tourist sites.  I've encountered them in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Cambodia.  They'll jump on people, take their things, surround them on narrow pathways and demand food.  They scratch and bite each other, all scab covered and bloody.  I usually pick up the biggest stick I can find and they leave me alone.  They're unbelievably strong, fast, and agile, and pack up together.  One of these things bites you and the vacation is over.

[GravitySucks]

I've been pretty lucky not encountering swarms of street kids.  I think tourist infrastructure has been built up considerably in places I've been since I was there, and back-pack tourists who get to these places first aren't exactly known for over-tipping.

What I hate are the monkeys that live at some of the major tourist sites.  I've encountered them in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Cambodia.  They'll jump on people, take their things, surround them on narrow pathways and demand food.  They scratch and bite each other, all scab covered and bloody.  I usually pick up the biggest stick I can find and they leave me alone.  They're unbelievably strong, fast, and agile, and pack up together.  One of these things bites you and the vacation is over.

I didn’t see any monkeys but the women I was traveling with were culturally adverse to going into the jungle.  They are all farmers so they handle the outdoors but something about the jungle makes them uncomfortable. A few short hikes to get to some of the waterfalls and up to one viewpoint was all I could talk them into as far as nature hikes.

[GravitySucks]

@PB we got extremely lucky it was low season.  I would guess there were only 400 people on the entire grounds of Angkor Wat and less than a dozen at the Banyon temple.

[PB]

Hey @PB

I spent 3 days in Siem Reap. The street urchin souvenir vendors were a real pain in the ass. Much more aggressive than what I encountered in Thailand. I didn’t like the food or the prices there either.

The one time I encountered a crowd of kids all vying for attention (money) was in Kathmandu.  We had ridden all night after hitching rides on trucks at the Tibet border and reached town as the sun was coming up.  I'm not sure where we got dropped off, but we were met by a crowd - dozens of kids.

We picked one out and waved him over.  The rest left us alone, focusing on the remaining marks, er, travelers.  We told him the general area we wanted to stay, what level of hotel, had him get us a taxi, and off we went.  After getting our rooms, we had him take us to someone to change money at a good rate, and sent him off to buy some hash (not for me of course).  He was no doubt getting a cut from everyone - hotel, restaurants, taxi drivers, money changer.  He'd be waiting for us outside every morning to see if we needed anything that day...

 

[PB]

I didn’t see any monkeys but the women I was traveling with were culturally adverse to going into the jungle.  They are all farmers so they handle the outdoors but something about the jungle makes them uncomfortable. A few short hikes to get to some of the waterfalls and up to one viewpoint was all I could talk them into as far as nature hikes.

There were monkeys at Angkor when I was there - inside Angkor Wat itself and near the Terrace of the Elephants. 

They're out at the ruins and temple grounds in rural areas in a lot of places, in parking lots at tourist sites, you name it.  People buy little bags of food for them from right at the site a lot of the time.  I'd like to strangle the people selling the food and the people buying it and feeding these monsters.

[PB]

@PB we got extremely lucky it was low season.  I would guess there were only 400 people on the entire grounds of Angkor Wat and less than a dozen at the Banyon temple.

Sweet